


Cold Hands [ Elsamaren ]

by BechloeSendrick05



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/F, F/M, Family Drama, Fanfiction, Fiction, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Post-Frozen 2 (2019)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-19 06:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 70,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22239997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BechloeSendrick05/pseuds/BechloeSendrick05
Summary: Set after Frozen 2, Elsa has been trying to settle in to the Enchanted Forest and be friendly with the Northuldra people, especially with a particular brunette. After a few stumbling weeks, Elsa begins to realise her feelings and writes them down in a secret journal that she plans to never show anyone.What if Anna comes to visit with Kristoff, Sven and Olaf and ends up finding the journal? What if she tries so hard to get Elsa and Honeymaren together that she doesn't end up seeing the upcoming horrors in their path? Will Elsa protect them, or are her powers not good enough for this danger?
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney), Elsa/Honeymaren (Disney)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 138





	1. Chapter 1

Elsa strolled through the woods of Northuldra, her pet salamander named Bruni snuggling into her shoulder. She learnt to create a snow cloud to cool the spirit down.

It was early morning in The Enchanted Forest, the birds were singing an all too familiar song, the Earth giants peacefully slept in a nearby river as their snores echoed throughout the land and Gale the wind spirit wondered through the air, going no place in particular.

Elsa, after a few minutes of walking, found a calm spot by a small lake and sat cross legged under a huge oak tree. It towered over her, almost protecting her.

She didn't tell anyone, but she had kept writing in a journal type of book to express her feelings. She wasn't necessarily writing a diary, she was just bad at expressing her emotions considering she used to be locked in her room for years on end.

Elsa sighed and began scribbling down the routine she had done today.

"-Woke up.  
-Had breakfast with Ryder and Honeymaren!  
-Carried logs from woods to camp  
-Flew a letter over to Anna in Arendelle  
-Practised controlling powers"

Elsa found herself smiling when talking about Honeymaren. She had never really knew why, but when she talked to the brunette her knees would feel shaky and her heart became warm.

It was in these times she felt like she needed her sister. Anna would always babble on about her feelings, saying whenever she was with Kristoff she felt 'free' but 'nervous'.

"'Maybe I should talk to Anna, what do you think Bruni?" Elsa smiled at the small creature as it attempted to lick the falling snowflakes around him that she created.

The creature smiled and cooed at Elsa, rolling over onto its back and sticking its tongue out.

Elsa giggled and scratched its belly. "You're a cute one!"

A loud neigh could then be heard in the distance. Elsa's head snapped into the direction of the beach and grinned to herself. The water nokk wanted to say hello.

The blonde quickly got up and shuffled over quietly to the beach, only to see an amazing site.

Honeymaren was topless, using a spear to try to catch fish. The brunette seemed to of noticed the water horse and eased closer to it.

"Man.... she's fit....and toned.... and pretty.... wait what? Get it together Elsa! She's your friend, you shouldn't be nervous."

Bruni jumped off of Elsa and into a nearby tree, smiling his cute grin at the site of Elsa's red cheeks.

Elsa however didn't seem to notice, as she was paranoid if the water nokk would react positively to Honeymaren.

Honeymaren was mid thigh deep in the water, slowly edging towards the water horse. She held out her darker skinned hand and cautiously shuffled in the water towards the horse.

It neighed and trotted all around her, sniffing and giving the girl a once over. Elsa was just about to reach out and stop the nokk from hurting her special friend, but stopped herself when the horse nudged it's nose into Honeymaren's hand. It was like the horse knew the fate of the girl and trusted her.

"Good boy. So you're Elsa's water horse that she keeps talking about." Honeymaren scratched the creatures chin as the horse lifted its head proudly and ran back into the cold water.

Elsa sighed softly, happy that the water horse liked Honeymaren. She then decided to sneak up on the tanned girl.

She slightly crouched and stepped onto the water, ice forming around her for once covered feet (as she was wearing boots), trying to be as quiet as an ice making spirit could be. Honeymaren seemed to be mostly distracted by the beautiful sight of the early morning sun glowing on the water spirit that jumped in and out of the ocean sea, instead of the noises around her, which benefited Elsa.

The Fifth Spirit launched a small shoot of ice around the brunettes waist, making her stuck. Elsa then ran up to her and whispered in her ear. "Hi there."

Honeymaren flinched in surprise, glaring at her playfully. "Hey there Elsa, what brings you here?"

"I was just strolling around, and then I heard the water spirit running around and decided to check it out, and it seems it led me to you." She smiled slightly, her voice soft and low.

The brunette chuckled and shook her head. "Can you um, maybe get me out of here?" Elsa then went slightly red out of embarrassment.

"Oh yeah, I sorta forgot to do that didn't I." The blonde with a flick of her wrist effortlessly erased the ice around Honeymaren's waist. She then pulled her up to her ice platform. Elsa felt Honeymaren's soft skin on her fingertips and realised she was so close to the brunette and was holding her waist. She could analyse every feature on the girls skin, from her chocolate brown eyes that were so light they could be like gold in sunlight, or her faint freckles dotted around her button nose, or her toned stomach.

Elsa's cheeks became a bright pink as she awkwardly put her hands at her side. "U-Um—."

"It's okay Snowflake, I don't mind it," Honeymaren winked with a small smile, "lets go for a stroll." Elsa became speechless and flustered at the nickname as the tanned girl took her hand in hers gently and walked back to the end of the ice path, deciding to sit in a warmer part in the sand that wasn't affected by water.

Elsa demolished the ice leftover in the water and joined her friend on the sand, sitting with her legs spread out, shoes off and to the side.

They sat in silence for a few moments. The two girls felt so comfortable with each other, even with all the confusing moments they had been having lately with one another. The subtle flirting, touches and the like. They were both too oblivious to notice half the time, especially Elsa.

Honeymaren was the first person Elsa felt incredibly comfortable with, apart from her sister, and it made her feel warm. And for a girl who could create literal ice, snow and living creatures, warmth on her skin was a rare thing.

All her life she had been just a cold, lonely girl. Now she was somewhat free, to a standard. She now was a protecter, but a free one at that.

"What's on your mind Elsa? You seem a bit out of it." Honeymaren giggled, fidgeting closer to Elsa. They were now merely inches apart, if they both looked towards each other there would probably be about an inch long gap between their faces.

Elsas breath hitched as she tried to get out the words. "I-I don't know Maren it's just, all my life I've been locked in a sort of cage, I've been restricted to the same room, same clothes, same routine. It was a prison cell, all because of one stupid mistake I made when I was like eight," The blonde stopped her words and took a deep breath in, she needed to get this out and luckily Honeymaren understood, as the brunette put her hand on top of Elsa's, "and I thought maybe one day I could get out and apologise to Anna and everything would be happy. But then m-my parents died and everything happened at the wrong time and I went completely nuts. I needed to be free, I couldn't be a queen. And I thought I was doing good by pushing everyone away. I even hurt my sister, and that was the last straw for me. I thought these powers were an awful curse that I was just destined to have, but then I met you...."

Elsa stopped herself for a second and then went red, Honeymaren noticed this and smiled to herself, "YOU and the tribe! I met you and the Northuldra people and it was just so—nice. It was so nice to relate to people in some way. I feel so free here and I finally know my purpose. So I guess I'm saying my thanks to everything in this forest. Even though I do miss my sister and friends."

"Wow, that's quite a lot Snowflake. I mean, you are the fifth spirit. You're an actual goddess and we only told stories of it before you arrived. You are meant to be here, and I'm glad it was you that ended up being the spirit, you're cute, adorable and fitting, 'Ice Queen'." Honeymaren teased, imitating Elsa's snow powers with her free hand and making dorky noises.

Elsa rolled her eyes playfully and made it snow above Honeymaren's head. The brunette gasped and annoyingly wiped it off her hat, huffing like a toddler. Her cuteness made Elsa chuckle. "Call me 'Ice Queen' one more time Maren, I dare you." The fifth spirit smirked, making Honeymaren turn away shyly with a sheepish smile.

The blonde ended up zoning out after a while and looking down at then ground, only to find that her fingers were intertwined with Honeymaren's. She didn't know when this had happened, but she wasn't complaining. She also got a view of the girls stomach.

Elsa was cut out of her thoughts when she heard Honeymaren giggle, it was an angelic sound. It was soft and sweet sounding, it was warm. It was the opposite to her. The brunette rested her head on Elsa's cold shoulder, sighing contently, as she had seen Elsa's zoned out staring. She looked like a goofy little kid on Christmas. Elsa found herself getting more flustered and awkward by the second, accidentally making light frost appear on Honeymaren's hat. Usually she could control her powers, but this time for some reason she couldn't.

"You always feel cold, don't you..... ice queen." Honeymaren mumbled teasingly, feeling how tense and cold her friend was.

Elsa took a deep breath in and blinked hard, restricting her laughter. She turned to Honeymaren and sighed.

"Honey, I'm gong to give you a ten second head start because of my powers, but I suggest you start running."

That comment made Honeymaren squeal like a little child.


	2. Unwanted Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa can't control her powers momentarily after realising her feelings for Honeymaren. She gets a letter from her sister then has a moment with Honeymaren.

Elsa was coming to a strange conclusion that she was feeling something towards Honeymaren. She didn't really know exactly what it was either, and she had never thought about it directly before.

Having being there for around five to six months now, all she did was really talk to Honeymaren, help out villagers, or talk to.... Honeymaren. The brunette really was her first true best friend, apart from family.

When she first met the Northuldra people and Honeymaren in general, she felt a connection with everyone and everything in the place. However her connection with a particular brunette grew and she began questioning how it even happened, as she thought she could only have that type of connection with someone like her sister, Anna.

Elsa ended up brushing it off as her just enjoying how welcoming the girl was. Every time their eyes locked Honeymaren would smile softly at her with warmth in her chocolate brown eyes that glowed in the sunlight. That made her subtle dimples only shine and stand out more.

The blonde snapped out of her thoughts and sighed to herself, realising she still needed to write down in her journal that she had retrieved from the lake.

Elsa was still sitting at the very beach that her and Honeymaren were cuddled up in merely hours prior, except she was at the very edge near the tree line. Unfortunately, Honeymaren had to do some amends related to the reindeer with her brother Ryder earlier in the day, leaving Elsa alone with the spirits.

In the distance there were young children playing in the water, squealing. It made Elsa chuckle at the cuteness of their smiles and the mischievous ways of Gale, the wind spirit.

The children were no older than ten, their different coloured eyes filled with that childhood innocence that Elsa hadn't seen in years, not even in Arendelle recently. All the adolescents here were so care free and 'not-proper', to put it more bluntly. Not that the fifth spirit didn't mind, it was a nice change. She didn't have to be so formal all the time anymore.

Gale's red and orange leaf trail did spirals around the small group of children as Elsa began to write down things in her journal. She added a fancy title above and underlined it before starting however, writing the word, 'EMOTIONS?'

She was going to try to split her different emotions into categories and decipher whether or not she was going crazy and just plainly overthinking.

The blonde must've been distracted as she began writing down her experience about The Enchanted Forest, deciphering different emotions to different groups, as she didn't hear a giggly yell come from directly above her braided head.

A huge thud could be heard, as a few bushes and even trees around Elsa shook and were covered in light frost. It frightened her as she immediately dropped the carefully crafted book.

Above her head, stuck on top of a thick branch was a little girl. She was giggling uncontrollably, leaves and sticks stuck all throughout her thick and bushy hair. Her skin was a light brown, accompanied by a toothy smile and dirt covered freckles. It almost reminded Elsa of Honeymaren.

The girl would've had to of been no older than six, her small structure and frame being a dead giveaway.

"Hi spirit lady!" The little girl said, directing to Elsa.

Elsa smiled softly at her, wiggling her fingers on her right hand in the girls direction, doing a cute wave. "Hey there little one! What's your name?"

"It's Kirra! I know who you are, you're Elsa, the 'Fifth Spirit'! You're really cool!"

It flattered Elsa to know that people knew her name, and for that reason. Having ice powers and being the 'Fifth Spirit'.

"Put me down and do it again! That was fun!" Kirra squealed, immediately clapping her hands together in excitement as Gale gently guided the girl back to the ocean.

The spirit gave off an almost joyful laugh, the aura of the area becoming light and playful.

Giving attention back to her journal after confirming that the girl was safe with the group of children again, Elsa gripped her graphite stick and began writing down a list of people she loved or cared for.

The Fifth Spirit only then began to realise how many acquaintances and even friends she had made over the past three years. When she ruled as queen, she had of course grown closer to every single citizen of Arendelle, but through the Northuldra people and her queenly connection, she had made a nice but small circle of trust. Trust.

Trust was a big word she didn't think she would be even thinking about commonly, but now Elsa was starting to. And honestly, she didn't seem to mind it.

——

Elsa's mouth hung open as she looked down at the scribbles on her pages.

She liked Honeymaren.

She liked Honeymaren. Confirmed with all her rants, drawings and thoughts. She would always drown in her thoughts. Her brain was a killer.

Her excessive thoughts about the girl, awkwardness around her and .... stomach aches. She figured out that what the aches were were called 'butterflies'. After Anna dragged her into cliche romance a few years ago she learnt all of these sappy words reading dozens upon dozens of pure heartache and pure melt that was romance books.

Guy gets the girl, they live happily ever after.

Girl likes the girl, gets heavily rejected.

The spirit mentally slapped herself for the negativity, she needed to calm down, but she couldn't. She felt her hands becoming a snow white and her surroundings turning into ice sculptures.

The tree roots Elsa sat on began to be covered in snow, her own body being devoured in the familiar white substance.

She tried to breathe in and out slowly, but it wasn't working for her. Bruni watched the scene from inside the cool snow that the blonde created, licking his own face and trying get snow off from his big and bulging eyes.

Elsa immediately stood up and threw her hands to her sides, evaporating the ice and snow like it was a little kids magic show.

The blonde then turned around and stumbled back into the comforting surroundings of the woods, resting her head against a nearby tree to calm down.

Why does it feel cold?

She felt herself freezing that tree as well. Everything she tried to touch just became cold and almost numb like. It frightened Elsa.

Why can't I control my powers?

She didn't know why she couldn't control her powers, but she just decided to not touch anything with her hands and head back to her tent for as long as possible. She knew she still had duties to do, but she just needed a place to think.

Or she could drown herself in those duties.

The blonde prayed to god that no on interrupted her. She didn't want to be responsible for another frozen heart, or worse, all because of her stupid feelings.

As she approached her small and dark green tent, Gale interrupted her by throwing a paper at the side of her head. She playfully rolled her eyes and looked down at it, scared to touch it.

With a long breath in, she concentrated everything she had on her body. From her stomach to core to arms to her legs. She put everything into not freezing the small piece of paper and managed to pick it up without crumbling it and turning it to ice.

Elsa then entered her tent and chucked off her shoes and threw them into the corner of the small space and crawled on top of the fur rug that was on the floor.

The letter read;

'To Elsa,

I am delighted to say that I am coming to visit you for a few short days as of next week! Arendelle's trade has been wanting to do trading with the Northuldra people since we met them around half a year ago and I've finally made my decision as Queen (still getting used to that title honestly) to try and strengthen our relationship with them. I'll be speaking to Yelana about future amends for most of the first day, but for a few days after that I'll be all yours! I can't wait to catch up with you! Throw me a note if you need anything xx

\- Anna"

Next week was going to be an interesting time for Elsa. Until then, she had to keep reassuring herself everything was going to be fine.

——

The Fifth Spirit let down her platinum blonde hair and laid her head on one of her soft pillows. Her hands were rested under her head, as she sighed and closed her eyes.

"Elsa? Elsa!"

Elsa's eyes opened. She knew that voice. It made her smile.

"In here." She groaned groggily, already annoyed at being interrupted from around 10 minutes of rest.

Her tent flap opened abruptly as Honeymaren stepped in cautiously, a confused look on her face.

"You're not the type to sleep mid afternoon, what's up?" Honeymaren giggled, restraining the urge to awe at the sight of Elsa looking like the literal definition of a princess with her hair sprawled out everywhere, and her natural face glowing, looking sleepy.

"I just wanted to think and rest, I got a note from my sister Anna." Elsa half lied, leaving out the part of her 'feelings' journal. She only just began to realise as she turned on her side and snuggled deeper into her pillow that she forgot to pick up her journal back at the beach edge when having her 'fit'.

"You seem pretty...." Maren began, giving the spirit a lazy once over, "comfortable I guess. May I join you down there?"

Elsa blushed lightly, shuffling over on her rug. "Yeah sure, you can if you would like. Going to warn you though I can be a bit.... too cool for some people." Elsa commented with a cheesy grin on her porcelain face.

Honeymaren froze dramatically when she sat next to Elsa. "Did you just— did you just do that?"

"Do what?" Elsa dragged on, sitting up and tilting her head cutely to the side like a curious puppy.

"You just made an ice joke. The Fifth Spirit just made an ice joke."

Elsa giggled and remembered when she first 'let go' of her powers. It was a cringe worthy time for her, but also a learning path.

"Well, I did used to say back in my youth that the 'cold never bothered me anyway', but that was an embarrassing time for me and I hope to never bring it up again." The blonde giggled, finding herself admiring the brunette's freckles once again.

"The cold never bothered you? But you can get a cold and be sick? How does that even work?" Honeymaren laughed, hiding her mouth with her hand.

"Honestly I don't know. I'm the Fifth Spirit and bring balance, don't judge me!" Elsa giggled, stretching out her arms.

Elsa realised that Honeymaren was still subtly hiding her face features, burying her face slightly in her own shirt.

"Don't hide your features, Honey." She softly stated, grinning toothlessly at the girl.

Honeymaren blushed deeply, raising her head up to look Elsa dead in the eyes.

"I love the nickname." She winked, making Elsa gulp thickly. She was feeling hot all of a sudden.

The blonde stretched out her fingers on her right hand, trying to get more comfortable, only to accidentally brush hands with Honeymaren. The brunette put her fingertips on top of Elsa's, smiling brightly.

A light but big piece of frost appeared around their hands, making Elsa blush out of embarrassment. "S-shit, I'm sorry."

"Hey it's okay. I figured after learning your tragic backstory from that talking snowman Olaf that you wouldn't be the most experienced with affection."

She was so understanding.

"Thank you for being understanding. Even basic things like close friends can be challenging to me."

Honeymaren smiled sadly at her, understanding of the girls situation. She then had an odd question.

"Hey, I know this is random but, do you people have ... I guess a way of showing affection to others ? Our tribe has many different gestures we use to show affection to people close to us." Honeymaren described, speaking softly, shuffling closer to Elsa.

They were now as close as they were on the beach, and both girls enjoyed it more than they would ever admit, but Elsa was also nervous.

"Well, my mother used to do this thing to my sister and I when we were little kids, she would hold our faces and then stroke down our noses. It helped us fall asleep when we were restless. D-did you want me to show you or something?"

Honeymaren smiled great fully at her. "O-only if you want to. Your mother was- she's a living legend and such a strong woman. I can tell you had the strongest connection with her."

Elsa took a deep breath in and took her left hand, leaving her right hand touching Maren's, and caressed the brunettes face softly. Her hands were ice cold, but Honeymaren didn't mind the cold, not with this woman.

Elsa's skinny hand shook as she preyed she didn't freeze the young girls face. She saw light snow appear around them in the corner of her eye but she tried to ignore it.

After a while of just her hand pressed there against Honeymaren's cheek, and a tension filled silence so tight you could cut it with a knife, Elsa moved her hand to the middle part of where Maren's eyebrows met. She took her pointer finger and slowly stroked up and down the girls button nose, humming 'All Is Found' and admiring the relaxed face Honeymaren admitted.

The brunette felt suddenly sleepy at the kind touch, but then realised she was in Elsa's tent and opened her eyes slowly. When she opened her eyes, Elsa's face seemed to of moved significantly closer, almost pulling Honeymaren into a side hug.

"That is- beautifully sweet. Thank you for sharing that with me."

Elsa let out a breathy laugh, a small smile still etched on her lips. "It wasn't too much, I like making people feel relaxed, especially around me. If I can make people feel relaxed around me I know that I can do anything and can control my powers properly."

Honeymaren nodded in agreement, amazed at the spirits casualness at the gesture. I guess their special gestures had different meanings to theirs.

Maybe she could show Elsa's hers another day.

"Well, it's around just past noon, and we don't have to do much until sunset, so I'll let you rest. When we're going riding on the reindeer I'll let you know so we can collect more herbs and maybe show you some secrets." The speaking of secrets made Honeymaren look like an excited child on Christmas playing with a new toy, it was a cute site to put it lightly.

Elsa nodded contently in agreement. "That sounds good. But please tell Ryder if he ever tries to fully tame that water nokk by himself, he's going to end up with two water horse size hoofs in his chest." The spirit giggled, remembering an outing where Ryder had been left alone near the water spirit while Honeymaren and her were collecting berries and had tried to tame it, only for it to spit water in his face and knock him over with a playful kick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if there's any mistakes. I suck at copy and paste


	3. Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa hangs out with Ryder and they open up to each other. Anna then finds Elsa's journal and doesn't tell her. She then invites the Northuldra to Arendelle's Christmas festivities and Honeymaren begs Elsa to show her everything.

When the bright morning sun began breaking through the crack in Elsa's tent, she already knew the next few days ahead of her were going to be hectic to say the least. 

A few days had passed since she had accidentally forgot how to control her powers. The Fifth Spirit still didn't know how it had happened, but it was somehow to do with those butterflies. 

Elsa still managed to act normal around Honeymaren however, as they were always around other people when interacting. Rather it be Ryder or Yelana or someone else, there was always another person to keep their 'feelings' in check.

She was grateful for it, even though their moment in the tent a few nights prior was....special to her. She didn't want to accidentally freeze anyone, especially Honeymaren, all because she couldn't keep her emotions in check.

Everyone in the Northuldra was busy preparing for Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven to arrive. Having the queen and future king of Arendelle visiting them was always a pleasure to the enchanted folk. Elsa loved the respect that was shown between societies, even when Arendelle started a war between them, they still had the heart to help them.

Elsa stretched out her long limbs with a yawn, curling her toes and tightening her fists to wake herself up faster. It was a more foggy day in The Enchanted Forest, winter was heavily approaching as the month of December had come upon them.

The blonde was actually curious if Honeymaren celebrated Christmas, as she had heard of a winter festival, but never heard of the festivities here that occurred in Arendelle. Not that the spirit minded, as change to her was a good thing most of the time.

Unless it was a drastic emotional change that might not even be accepted in Northuldra.

The Fifth Spirit threw on her boots and strolled on outside to where many of the tribe's citizens were frantically going on about their routine, as if it was everything to them, and in a way it was everything.

If Elsa wasn't the balance of all four spirits, people would've thought that she was crazy. She had on minimum choice of clothing, with her usual boots, high waisted leggings, light blue dress accompanied by a belt and a thin cape that descended to her ankles. While everyone else wore thick layers of fur and skins, and it made her stick out like a sore thumb. But she couldn't really help it, anything drastically frozen to some people felt merely cool to her. It wasn't like she was immune to the cold, she just wasn't as badly effected.

The blonde then felt a light tap on her left shoulder. She turned her head slightly to see Ryder smiling brightly at her. If Elsa was anywhere remotely attracted to men like her sister was, she would've considered him a very cute person. Not that he wasn't cute, he just wasn't as beautiful as Honeymaren.

She shook away her thoughts. "Hey Ryder, what's up? How's your morning been?" The boys facial expression almost read as if he was confused, confused as to why she was so casual.

"Okay so you're even cooler than what I thought for speaking so casually," Ryder chuckled, shaking his head slightly as if awkwardly embarrassed or shy, "Did you want to help me with the reindeer? Maren is currently training down near the lake with the younglings and honestly it seems we get more and more of these little cuties everyday." The boy finished, petting the head of a small baby reindeer. It was the same one that was asleep by the fire when Elsa and Honeymaren sung 'All Is Found' that very night, many months ago. 

"Growing up I was very formal all my life, it is just a nice change to be able to speak more freely," Elsa explained in a soft tone, "and yes I would love to, I still have a little bit of time to kill before my sister gets here."

Ryder nodded gratefully at the ice queen, signalling her towards a small stable to select reindeers to ride. They had one main stable with dozens upon dozens of reindeers, accompanied by smaller ones for townsfolk willing or wanting to travel somewhere.

They rode in a comfortable silence. Elsa knew Ryder was the more shy and reserved type, the complete opposite to his sisters confident and sassy attitude. The blonde wondered if she could make Honeymaren even more shy than him, or do something else....

"Elsa? You okay there? You started riding a bit slower and zoned out a bit."

The Fifth Spirit blinked hard for a few seconds before realising how hot she felt. "U-um, yes Ryder, I'm quite fine. I just got too deep in my thoughts about Arendelle duties I guess, my poor sister has to do all of those now that she's taken my role as queen."

The boy nodded understandingly, looking down at the ground. "I get you there. Growing up my father always wanted us to be strong, especially me. He thought I would be this.. 'tough and strong warrior that would make his family proud' or something, " Ryder explained, doing a goofy impression of his father, "But I turned out to be... that kid. I couldn't really fight, I couldn't really heal people the best, but I loved animals. So I decided to tend to animals at a young age, and my sister ended up taking the spotlight of the family's 'hero', but I honestly didn't mind, and I don't care now. I get the stress of having these roles you're supposed to carry on because of your bloodline. It doesn't really matter too much to me anymore thoug I mean, half of my family is gone cause of the stupid fight that raged on. My grandfather died during the war, and my father... well he just went mad being stuck in the woods. He wanted to be free, so he just went travelling and never came back."

Elsa's mouth hung slightly open at the boy's rant. Before this interaction they would probably would of said about two sentences to each other a day at most, but she felt as if he had shared a small piece of his heart and soul to her. A secret only he can fully understand.

"That's- wow. Thank you for sharing that, I can tell you needed to get that out of your system. But don't worry Ryder, its wonderful you care for animals so much. That ability is also useful, you are useful and don't forget that either. You and your sister seem incredibly close, and I can tell both of you care about each other deeply."

"Yeah we do, she's my best friend and partner in crime."

\------

"Elsa! IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU!" As they were riding back to the stables, Elsa heard a familiar chirpy voice yelling her name in the distance. It was Olaf, his permanent smile etched onto his face like almost every other day.

"Olaf? Hey little guy! I missed you." She hoped off of her reindeer and Ryder let them back into their pens, then leant down to hug the small snowman. He reached out his tiny stick hands with glee and hugged the blonde tightly, making what only to be an attempt of 'uwu' sounds.

"Do you know where Anna is?" She asked with a soft smile on her face. Olaf always made her mood brighten no matter what type of danger they happened to be in.

"Oh yeah! She's currently talking to Yelana and Honeymaren!"

Elsa cocked an eyebrow, "Do you know about what exactly?"

"Oh yeah! Basic trading to strengthen... stuff. I can't really remember."

Elsa mentally facepalmed, she had literally talked about it with her sister recently about her visit and she had already forgotten why the red head was visiting.

"Thanks Olaf, I'm to go with Ryder to visit them, did you want to come?" The blonde stood next to Ryder with an inviting smile, cocking her head slightly as if waiting for an important response.

"Oh yeah! Kristoff and Sven are going to visit some reindeer and I wanna see more Svens! I'll see you later Elsa!"

And with that he waddled off towards Sven with his stubby snowball feet, who was impatiently waiting for him a few dozen yards away. The reindeer seemed excited to visit more of his own kind. 

"Hey, Elsa can I ask you a question?" Ryder spoke up suddenly, straightening his back so he was as tall as the blonde spirit. It was kind of embarrassing that she was taller than him, as he wasn't considered an overly short person in the tribe. That's what made Elsa's presence more intimidating, she wasn't short or tall, but she stood her ground and even looked down on people that were twice her size.

"Go ahead, Ryder."

"Well, um, are you and Honeymaren like... best friends now or?"

The blonde stiffened in her walk, she had to practise and revise all of her breathing techniques in her head as she tried not to freeze half of the wildlife around her. 

"Somewhat yes. To me she is one of my first true friends. A best friend if that." 

Best friend. She liked the sound of that, but something ached for more inside of her.

"Well, whatever your doing is amazing because this is the happiest I have ever seen my sister since Kara-um...since well things happened a few years ago. You've truely made her smile so brightly and genuinely. I can't thank you enough for that."

Kara? Who was that? Were they friends? Or... something more than that?

Elsa's shoulders slightly drop at the thought of Honeymaren liking someone else. "In all honesty I haven't done much, she's the one that's put all the effort in, and I'm glad she pushed me slightly to the point where I felt incredibly awkward as its made me more confident and more opening to people."

"Well thats good, I'm my sister can make you feel like that."

Oh you have no idea.

As they tumbled through the last few yards of snow, the silhouettes of both Anna and Honeymaren could be seen intimately conversing with Yelana. Anna always spoke with such passion in her expression and posture, it made Elsa tired just thinking about putting so much emotion into such simple sentences everyday. The blonde admired it, realising how much of an amazing queen Anna was going to become within the next few years. Of course she hadn't been a bad queen when in power, she put her heart and soul into her work, but Anna was just... special. 

"Oh my gosh Elsa, hi! It's been so long since I've seen you!" The Fifth Spirit found herself being engulfed in a tight hug, Anna's familiar warmth overwhelming her. She really missed her sister everyday, even when she didn't say it. Anna was the only person that could make her feel warm inside and out. Well, until as of recently. 

Elsa giggled and shook her head, holding her sister tighter. "Anna, its been like two weeks. I went to see you for Arendelle meetings remember?"

The younger girl groaned and pulled out of the tight hug, not wanting to let go of her sister. "I know but I really miss you, miss us and our late night shenanigans! I may be queen but that certainly doesn't mean I cant bust it down with my sis!" Anna giggled and did a little dance, wiggling her butt out a little.

Elsa grinned widely at the girl, shaking her head and looking at her feet. "Never change Anna, you're literally one of a kind."

"Oh I know," she winked with a grin, "How have you been holding up?" Anna questioned, a small smile still remaining on her face. The girls freckly face looked so innocent in the sunlight.

"Oh, I guess I've been....." Elsa glanced over at Honeymaren, who was talking to Yelana and Ryder a few metres away from them. They locked eyes and the blondes breath immediately hitched, she smiled brightly but awkwardly at the tanned girl, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink, "Occupied? I don't know. I've been a bit confused but I don't know how to explain it."

Anna raised a confused eyebrow at their interaction. "Explain it? Why can't you?"

"Honestly I don't know. I just can't seem to get the words out," Elsa felt a shiver go up her spine at the sound of Honeymaren bursting into laughter, "Cause if I do get the words out, then I'll be confirming it to be true..... confirming that its not a weird dream." 

Anna felt a weird tug at her dress. She looked down to find a trail of wind almost pushing her into a certain direction. It was Gale, the wind spirit wanted to show her something.

"I understand that completely. Hey Elsa, is it okay if I just go to the bathroom for a second?"

Elsa was confused at the sudden comment, but took no offence to it. "Of course, I don't know why you just didn't go, you don't have to ask sis."

Anna smiled gratefully, "Thanks Elsa."

The only thing that would change in the next hour was Anna's perspective on her sister, especially after finding a certain journal with a lot of....detailed feelings.

\------

"-so as the queen of Arendelle, I've decided to invite all of you to our annual Christmas festival, where afterwards there will be a dinner in the castle you are all welcomed to come to. You don't have to attend, but we have all the resources to store your animals and belongings if you wish."

The crowd clapped and began murmuring excitedly as Anna finished her speech. She couldn't help but stare at her sister every second, and just how fidgety she got around Honeymaren. How she hadn't noticed it before she had no clue. It was just so.... obvious.

Gale had redirected her towards the edge of the beach, where she had tripped over, eaten sand and then read Elsa's book. She knew her sister was capable of feeling intense emotions like that, but she never thought she would be this deep but so clueless about it at the same time.

As she walked towards her sister, she was interrupted by a familiar brunette. "Oh my gosh! You have to show me around the place snowflake! I've always wanted to come to Arendelle and this is the perfect time to! Can I get a... personal tour?" Honeymaren flashed her best puppy dog eyes as she looked up at the taller blonde. Elsa was slightly frozen at the cute site.

"Only if you're a good girl and you let me show you my magic during fighting."

Maren pursed her lips in thought, facing Elsa directly, "Hmmmm, we have a deal my friend! I can't believe I'm even going, this is real Anna? Right?"

The ginger laughed at the girls uncertainty, "Yes Honeymaren, this is fortunately real."

The tanned girl squealed and got on her tippy toes, kissing Elsa's cheek tenderly as a way of thanks. "You are amazing Elsa, thank you!"

A little spurt of ice came from Elsa's fingertips in surprise, "Y-you're welcome."

Anna watched the two interact. "Oh they definitely like each other."

The younger queen then suddenly had an idea, and it was going to make her sister realise how much of a confident and sexy person she could be.

She was going to turn Elsa from a stuttering mess to an item so beautiful, Honeymaren would be stuttering. Which was rare.


	4. Dandelions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa, Honeymaren, Ryder, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven arrive in Arendelle and are greeted by citizens. Elsa teaches Honeymaren how to properly ice skate. They then have a family game night.

Elsa took a deep breath in while staring at the distant gates of Arendelle. She had considered earlier just riding the water nokk to the castle, but Anna protested profusely, saying she wanted to spend more 'quality time' with her sister. 

The girl would always cave in to her red headed sister when they were younger. The younger sibling came equiped with an adorable set of puppy dog eyes and baby voices, it was like she practised convincing people in her spare time.

They were on a wagon like vehicle, being lead by Sven, who was tiredly dragging them into the large kingdom. The Northuldra people had taken their reindeer into town, being guided into the stables by the kind and accepting guards. At least Sven would be happy that he could hang with dozens of reindeer all day.

"Hey Elsa, how did you even manage to be queen for three years and have ice powers? Because I don't even need to control any powers and I'm dying." Elsa turned her head to the right to look directly at her sister, who was groaning like a little child who didn't get the present they wanted.

"Thats a little bit of an exaggeration," Elsa giggled, holding her hand over her mouth, "Honestly I don't know how I did it. Everyday I was just bombarded by people asking what to do that hour, that night and the coming days after. All these people needed fixing and so did I, so I pushed myself into work to fix myself in a way I guess. The stress was bone crushing, but you will get used to Anna, as I did." The blonde really never thought about the fact that the siblings had swapped schedules in a way. Her's was very free half the time, if she wasn't going to Arendelle meetings or helping out in The Enchanted Forest, while Anna always had something to do twenty four hours a day when in Arendelle.

"I'm not exaggerating! I really need help or practice in the whole 'saving everyone' spectrum."

Elsa raised her eyebrows, amused. "Well its not like I can exactly teach you how to save a town from a huge tsunami with an ice shield or how to tame a water horse spirit, but I can teach you how to be patient. Trust me Anna, the feeling of helping others in need sometimes is just so amazing it overcomes the stress that came from helping."

Anna paused for a minute, taking in the statement. "I guess you're right, and ha...ha...ha... on the power jokes there. I know I don't have powers."

Elsa smiled brightly at the red head. "Yes you do have powers, the power of love! You made me who I am mostly."

"Awe you sap, stop." Anna lightly nudged her sisters shoulder with her own, looking down at her hands. If Kristoff were next to her she would've held his hand, but the blonde headed boy was at the front, guiding Sven.

Elsa sighed and looked to her left. Honeymaren and Ryder were allowed to ride with them to the castle after a few minutes of Honeymaren's begging and Ryder gushing about what it would be like to live in a place so huge. At the very back of the wooden structure, they both slept sitting up, Ryder having his head resting against his sisters shoulders, snoring quietly.

It was an adorable site, Honeymaren's hair blew lightly in the early morning wind and the sun reflected down onto her faint freckles. She looked peaceful while she slept.

A yell of greetings snapped the Fifth Spirit out of her thoughts, it was a village-person watching them approach the gates. 

"The Queen, she's back! She's back with Elsa!" A small crowd formed around their wooden wagon, causing the Northuldra siblings in the back to jolt awake at the sudden sounds.

Ryder rubbed his eyes furiously, a look of confusion on his face. "W-What's all the noise about- woah..... Maren look at this place, its beautiful!" The boy clutched his sisters arm excitedly, stars practically sparkling in his dark eyes.

But Honeymaren was already looking out at the view, her mouth wide open at the beauty of Arendelle. The dozens of buildings and busy streets made her gasp in awe.

"It's beautiful! Elsa, you're telling me you lived here, in THAT castle?" She pointed towards the all too familiar building that the spirit grew up in.

Elsa chuckled at the girls excitement. "Yes Honey, I grew up here. It's quite the place isn't it?"

The blonde girl then finally took in the town for herself, and it really was astonishing. Banners of red, white and green hung around each post, accompanied by empty lantern lights, ready to be turned on and lit at dusk. 

People decorated windows of houses with the most exotic of flowers, and the walkways were filled with decorative vines and blasts of colours. It was like the town represented joy.

Honeymaren then suddenly yawned. "It really is quite the place, but I'm still tired though, you guys woke me up from a deep sleep." The brunette mumbled tiredly with a moan, making Anna and Elsa both giggle at the annoyed banter.

\------

"Elsa! Could I have a train please?"

There was a long line of kids that seemed to trail on as far as the eye could see. Elsa had gotten to one of the final kids and had the same expression that she did at the start, a huge grin, as even if she didn't admit it, she adored kids. To her, if she made a kid happy, then that one child could have a better childhood than she ever did.

She felt the magic running through her, ice and frost escaped her fingers, blasting out from each fingertip. She felt a buzzing feeling in her lower abdomen, like she was channeling a power source. She had learnt to feel more free when using her magic, and in all honesty she loved using it. When Elsa was once queen, she took every opportunity just to shoot out blasts of ice or make life-like sculptures. 

With pure concentration and thought, and with a twirl of her right hand, particles began forming a sculpture of a real train, except toy sized. The kid watching- who would've been around eight years old and a male- gasped in awe at the site of the train moving and tooting smoke into the air around him. His swamp green eyes lit up so much they looked like emeralds.

Elsa made the train sculpture move and twist like it was on actual train-rails, until it peacefully fell in the child's hands, coming to a stiff stop, freezing in place as if it didn't just move around and blow out frosty smoke.

"That was so cool! Thank you!" The giddiness on the boy's face as he ran back to his parents, hugging his mother and pulling his father close made Elsa feel like the last few hours had been actually worth it. A future generation's smile was everything.

"I don't know if I'll ever get tired of watching you do that." Honeymaren exclaimed, walking up to her with a bright smile. It seemed the brunette had been having a lot of fun with Ryder, and got lost in the festivals and stalls they had to offer. Honeymaren had a delicate white flower crown on her head, making her look so pure and innocent, even though she was far from it.

"That wasn't much compared to what I've done before." Elsa chuckled, smiling softly at the site of the short girls amazement.

"I know I know you literally saved this town from a tsunami and also singlehandedly built an entire ice castle, which by the way I saw on the way here and it looked so cool."

The Fifth Spirit grimaced at the mention of it, remembering her 'let it go' phase. "The only thing in that castle is the monster I created called Marshmallow to guard the place and the hundreds of snowgies I made when I was sick on Anna's birthday."

"Wait you create living creatures when you're sick? What if you're like hurt or.... something else...?" Honeymaren realised how bad it sounded, but couldn't take it back by that point.

"Yeah I do, it's quite strange, but I've never been hurt or anything else like that so I wouldn't know if those snowgies appear when I'm hurt too."

The brunette nodded understandingly. Looking over at the castle entrance to see people ice skating. "Are they running on ice?" She whispered confusingly.

"Do you know what ice-skating is, Maren?" Elsa was actually curious as to if the tanned girl knew what it was or not.

"Y-Yeah I guess I do, but I never actually learned how to skate... it was like the one thing I refused to learn! Plus we didn't really have the best skates either." As they walked towards the icy front courtyard of the castle, Honeymaren threw her hands up in defence, sitting down at a nearby bench and watching all of the happy families and couples zooming past them.

"I-I could teach you." Elsa stuttered with an awkward smile, as her cheeks turned a tint of pink, and it wasn't blush from the makeup she was wearing.

"Wait really? You'd do that? You know how frustrated I get."

Elsa had to restrain a laugh at the girls comment. It was true, anything new Honeymaren tried to do she would get frustrated at after a few failed attempts, making her rather just give up or concentrate a hundred times more. "Yes Maren, I would. It's not a hassle for me, I taught Anna how to skate too!" 

Elsa slowly held out her hand for the brunette to take, she was even surprised by her own actions. Her pale fingers were shaking and desperately trying not to frost over anything due to her sudden nerves.

Honeymaren saw her slight shake and hesitantly took the taller girls hand slowly, silently reassuring Elsa everything was fine.

They both stood facing each other, smiling. Elsa was a good inch or two taller than the tanner girl, so she looked down at her. "This may feel weird, just a heads up."

The Fifth Spirit shot a small burst of ice under Honeymaren's fur boots, creating little ice skates underneath them.

"So these are what they're so supposed to be shaped like, I'll have to tell Yelana that." Honeymaren whispered to herself, while slowly being tugged towards the slippery ice flooring.

"Okay, I'm going to slowly ease on here okay? I'll hold you for a little while, and then once you're used to standing I'll show you how to move." Elsa explained softly, a puff of breath exiting her nose in amusement after seeing Honeymaren's uneasy expression.

"Okay, I'm going to step on now..." The brunette carefully glided onto the ice, almost slipping when putting on her second foot.

Elsa grabbed her friends waist quickly and helped her up straight. Her hands lingered there for a while, as she started into the shorter girls eyes. Just as she was about to let go, an almost small cry or whelp came from Honeymaren's mouth.

"Please don't let go yet." She whispered quietly, glancing up at Elsa with wide and frightened eyes. 

"You always walked across ice in the woods, why're you afraid now Maren?" The blonde asked softly, genuinely curious as to why the brunette couldn't function. Their faces were inches apart, and it was in Maren's favour that Elsa hadn't noticed their closeness yet.

Honeymaren wasn't used to wearing skates, they felt weird. She knew she could get used to them, but really the truth was she also wanted to get closer to Elsa. "I-I'm just not used to skates. They're weird." It was still part of the truth, but there was a little lie left out on the whole, 'I want to just be close to you and use this as an excuse.'

Elsa nodded understandingly, standing up more straight, not knowing what to do. Her hands were around Honeymaren's waist for support, while the shooters girls hands were placed on Elsa's shoulders for balance.

The two found themselves locking eyes for a long time again, except this stare was more sensual. Elsa's pupils were dilated so much you would've thought her eyes were black, while Honeymaren's heart eyes were so sweet it could've made anyone have a rotten tooth.

With a deep breath in, Honeymaren hyped herself up internally. "Okay, could you teach me how to move now?"

Elsa smiled proudly at her, guiding her through the basic movements. "I remember when I was teaching Anna, and then Olaf came up to us and said, 'glide and pivot, glide and pivot', maybe remembering that could be useful to you. Even though he was turning around every five seconds, it could help you cope."

Glide and pivot. Glide and pivot.

Honeymaren went over the simple motions, her legs doing a more circular motion to try and move in a straight line. She tried her hardest to copy Elsa, and it was somewhat working.

"Hey! I-I think I'm doing it!" Honeymaren's goofy grin made all the explaining and awkward moments worth it, in Elsa's eyes.

The two girls still had their arms locked, as they slowly moved around the edges of the makeshift ice rink. They were lucky they didn't see Anna squealing from the other side of the courtyard, who was skating with Ryder and Kristoff.

The red head whispered to Ryder as they glided past the two girls. "I'm not the only one seeing this, am I?"

The boy turned to her and shook his head with a sheepish smile. "No you're not, I've been seeing this for a long time."

\------

"Okay ladies and gentlemen, it's the final round. We have Anna and Elsa on six points and Kristoff and Honeymaren on seven points. This is a speed round so be careful with time!" Olaf dramatically spoke, waddling back off to the side as Honeymaren stood up proudly.

The brunette had been invited over for game night by Anna, which in hindsight shocked Elsa, as she didn't even know her sister respected the girl so much to a point where she was inviting her to family events. Maren was even allowed to sleep in one of the guest rooms.

Little did she know what Anna was planning and hiding.

Everyone was still terribly full from the dinner they shared with the Northuldra around about an hour prior, and it was certainly hurting Kristoff's and Anna's stomach.

With a crack of her hands and rolling her neck, Honeymaren reached into the basket full of papers and pulled one out slowly, only to laugh and look over at Sven, who swapped over the sand timer, indicating the round had started.

The brunette covered her nose and waved it around, signifying a type of smell. 

Kristoff furrowed his brows. "Uhhhh stinky? Sweaty? Smelly? Gross?"

Honeymaren then giggled and pointed to the blonde boy. 

Kristoff's mouth hung open as Anna giggled next to him, giving the older man heart eyes. "M-Me? Smelly? Is it my clothes? My stench? Sven?"

"It was Kristoff's Clothing!" Olaf excitedly rung the bell, indicating for Honeymaren to take another paper. The tan girl complied, taking the next one.

"Whoever put that word in is stupid and mean!" Kristoff huffed, crossing his arms with a slight pout.

Honeymaren ignored his comments and began to think, making a humming sound. She then had an idea, making swimming motions with her arms and neighing noises. Elsa knew what it was straight away and so did Anna, but everyone knew Kristoff wasn't very familiar with the spirit.

"Um... water? Water horse?"

Honeymaren furiously pointed to Elsa and made the same motions and noises. 

"Oh I know it I know it! The water spirit! The water nokk!"

As the last of the sand grains fell to the bottom of the timer, Olaf happily rung the bell again, signifying another point to them.

"Well we're on nine now, you'll have to get three points to tie with us." Kristoff cockily stated, giving Honeymaren a high five. "You're not half bad for a newbie."

Honeymaren grinned at him. "And you're not bad for a stinky blonde male."

Elsa had already shyly gotten up, pulling out a small piece of paper with a sigh. Her eyes then glowed with excitement.

She had gotten such easy ones left.

The blonde tapped her fingers together, making a 'you-hoo' sound with her lips.

"Oaken!"

"Correct!"

Elsa hurriedly pulled out another, revealing its contents. She wasn't actually doing bad. The Fifth Spirit then made fake sneezing motions, then a 'poofing' action with her hands and then flapping her hands around like mini wings.

Anna looked beyond confused, then it hit her. "Um... sickness? Sick dragon, sick bird? Is it a creature you created? OH a snowgie?"

Olaf rung the bell excitedly. "Correct, one more and you guys tie for the first time in forever!"

Elsa took what was probably going to be the last paper, and blushed at its contents. The blonde looked around the room for a second, then just plainly pointed at Honeymaren.

The girl look confused. "M-Me?" 

Anna's lips pursed in thought, she then smiled. "Ummm cute? Adorable? Short? Brown hair? Loud? Cocky? Smart? Precious?"

Olaf then jumped up and down with glee, ringing the bell. "Correct! It was 'smart'!" Elsa was about to reach for another one but was abruptly stopped by the sand timer.

"Did you just call me short?" Honeymaren asked with raised eyebrows, clearly amused. 

"Yes I did." Anna grinned cheekily, loving the frozen look on Elsa''s face, still clearly affected by Anna's words. The floor under the blondes feet had again began to be covered in frost, but the blonde headed spirit made sure she controlled it immediately, as she didn't want to accidentally hurt someone.

"Well, looks like we have a tie, rematch anyone?" Kristoff suggested, yawning and stretching out his limbs. 

"I think I might hit the hay, but thank you for a good night!" Honeymaren said, referring to everyone in the room, "And thank you for inviting me here, it was an honour and a pleasure."

"The pleasure is all mine" Anna smiled. "Now Elsa, I was wondering if I could talk to you in your room about something later on? Is that okay?"

This was it. This was where Elsa was going to confess her 'dirty little but obvious secret' to Anna.

And for Anna, it was a chance to say she knew what was going on, and wanted to help her sister.


	5. Christmas Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They open presents on Christmas Day as a family. Honeymaren is invited along and gives Elsa a present, and the blondes gives the brunette one as well. Elsamaren first kiss :)

"Do we wake her up? It is quite late...."

"No! Wait, should we? I don't know, if you knew how little of sleep my sister got when she was queen, you would probably be hesitating on doing this."

"Well, on a scale of one to 'going crazy' how tired was she?"

"A solid 'I tried to attend to every single person of Arendelle while handling dozens of paperwork and figuring out my powers and being mobbed by people everyday', tired! And she still hasn't gotten over it!"

After family game night the night before they had set out and put the Olaf star on the ice tree Elsa had created to end Christmas Eve officially, and create a new day of joy. Anna could tell her sister was exhausted after the long and dragged out day of fun.

The two sisters never ended up telling each other anything. They were too tired and awkward, was was unlike Anna.

Elsa groaned at the yell-whispers close to her. She had practically passed out in her familiar double bed once she made it to her childhood room the night prior. Well, it was actually her parents' room that she inherited when she became queen, but this room was more familiar and comfier to her than her old frozen one.

The blonde was dressed in one of the Northuldra undergarments, a long sleeve light brown shirt accompanied by dark brown trousers. Honeymaren had gotten Elsa it for a birthday present about half a week prior. She said it was sort of like a 'initiation' gift. The Fifth Spirit was completely welcomed in the forest.

"She looks so cute in your clothes!" Anna exclaimed excitedly, folding her hands together and resting them against her cheek, smiling brightly.

Honeymaren blushed and had to refrain from coughing loudly. "O-Oh um, they're not mine, I made them for her. She's officially apart of the Northuldra tribe, she's family now, so I presumed she need them." The brunette sheepishly smiled, turning back to peaceful goddess on the double bed.

Elsa's eyes fluttered open in time to see her sister and friend still staring at her, only for her to gasp inaudibly and slam a pillow over her face in embarassment. "Anna! I look disgusting! Why're you in here?" The Fifth Spirit mumbled into her pillow with a moan.

Anna giggled and shook her head. "Sis, you look beautiful in literally everything. Especially in those Northuldran clothes! Plus, with makeup or no makeup, your skin is literally flawless. Stop complaining and get up! It's Christmas Day and it's almost noon!"

That comment made Elsa sit up abruptly in her comfy sleeping space, and throw one of the many white pillows at her sisters face. "WHAT? It's almost noon? Why didn't you wake me?"

Elsa was the type of person who usually loved mornings. She didn't particularly know why, but as soon as dawn arose she was up and ready for the day. The feeling of the new day calmed her for reasons she couldn't explain. So for her to not be up so late was beyond her.

Honeymaren giggled at the girls bantering and messy hair as she spoke. It was out of its usual braid and flowing freely past her shoulders. The platinum blonde nest spiked out in a million different directions, but somehow managed to all come together to create a perfect mess.

"We didn't want to wake you! Do you know how long it has been since you've slept like that?" Anna queried with a small smile, knowing her sister wouldn't have anything to clap back with.

Elsa sighed and mumbled, "I suppose it has been a while since I had a restful sleep. Could I also ask why you're still here, Maren? I thought you left with your brother?"

The tanned girl glanced at Anna before replying. "Oh yeah, Anna said that I could stay if I wanted to, and since I didn't have many duties to do today, I decided why not keep you company." A small smirk etched on the shorter girls lips as she saw the heavy amount blush appearing on Elsa's face. The Northuldra people had their winter day today, but in all honesty Honeymaren wanted to spend time with Elsa and see what their 'Christmas' was all about.

"O-Oh, thank you Honey, I'll meet all of you in the ball room to open presents, just let me change."

Anna smiled brightly at her sister and her awkwardness and nodded, dragging Honeymaren out of the room to let Elsa change in privacy. Once her bedroom door was completely shut, Elsa shuffled over to her closet and browsed around the hung clothing, stopping and grabbing her familiar but elegant snowy white dress and undergarments.

The blonde slipped off her comfy Northuldran clothes and folded them neatly, leaving them on top of her bed. She would collect it later, but it was time for presents first. Making her way over to the mirror, Elsa then saw how truely messy she looked and had to refrain from wincing. The only person who had ever really seen her like this apart from her parents was Anna, she never let anyone see her look messy. With a final glance at herself, the Fifth Spirit grabbed a medium sized box from under her parents old bed and carefully placed it on her bedside table, fixing the sparkly yellow bow on top of it. No one knew of this present, and Elsa could only pray the person receiving it would like it.

Outside of Elsa's room and in the long and dragging hallways of the castle, Anna and Honeymaren were walking back to the ball room in a comfortable silence, before Anna suddenly had a genuine question to ask.

"Hey Honeymaren, did you by any chance get Elsa a present?" The red headed girl had her hands clasped behind her, resting against her lower back patiently.

"I did actually, yes. I bought her something yesterday, in one of the Arendelle... carving things? I actually don't know what it was called, but I got her this." Honeymaren carefully took a small, dark blue box from inside her fur coat, smiling at just the thought of giving her friend a present.

The tan girl slowly flipped open the small box, to reveal a gorgeous necklace accompanied with half of a snowflake.

"There's only half of a snowflake?" Anna queried with a confused tone.

"I have the other half." Honeymaren gushed, stretching out her collar so Anna could visibly see the other half of the silver coloured necklace. The actual snowflake was an almost bright white colour, making it shine and stand out in the Northuldran's clothing.

Anna's eyes widened as she squealed with excitement. "Okay, that is ridiculously cute. How did you afford that?"

"The blacksmith said I could have it for free, as she said she saw that I was Elsa's friend and new around here." Honeymaren smiled. The people here were very kind, well most. The local journalist named Wael, seemed to constantly attack Anna and Elsa with questions about duties, even when Elsa had stepped down from her royal title as queen. Anna knew he meant no harm however.

The redhead smiled as she immediately knew who would've done that. It would've been Tuva and her wife, they were kind hearted souls, and great blacksmiths.

As they approached the ball room, Honeymaren was once again overwhelmed by the beautiful and stretching decorations that strung around the room. A huge, real tree, stood tall in the corner of the room, it must've been at least twenty feet tall and ten feet wide, decorated with dozens upon dozens of rows of tinsel wrapped around it neatly.

A dining table was placed slightly to the side to fit presents around the tree, a royal red cloth decorating the wooden furniture.

Kristoff, Sven and Olaf were impatiently but excitedly sitting on the shiny wooden floorboards. Anna wouldn't admit it, but Kristoff with his messy bed hair and shoes off was an adorably childish site she loved.

"Where's Elsa? I can't wait to open presents!" Olaf gushed, waving his small stick legs around in excitement. Sven was plopped beside him, staring at his carrot nose.

"She's coming Olaf, calm down." Anna giggled, joining the group on the floor, sitting next to Kristoff. Honeymaren sat opposite to them, waiting for Elsa to come down.

In the meantime while the group was babbling on about Christmas and the good things in life, Elsa was strutting down the castle's corridors in her all too familiar majestic white dress, barefooted, walking in their direction. Her hair was out freely, swaying back and forth in a confident way that made her look more powerful. For once she didn't have any makeup on.

With a tired smile, Elsa shuffled her way over to the group, having to refrain from emitting the most ugliest laugh after seeing Olaf's happy dance and childish squeals. 

"Okay, okay, okay. Present time! Can I open mine now?" 

Anna giggled and nodded her head. "Yes Olaf, you can grab your present now."

As the adorable snowman waddled over to a small square-like box near the front of the present pile, Honeymaren looked over at Elsa. She never really had seen the girl this natural looking and free spirited. 

Oh the irony, the Fifth Spirit never really was free spirited.

A few metres away from them, Anna kept glancing over at the two girls as Olaf began violently clawing at the present that had his name elegantly written on it, and thought to herself. She needed to do something today, she didn't know what, but something was itching inside of her to make her big sister happy. She knew that Elsa wouldn't have the guts to make the first move with her first real crush.

"Oh my lollipops! It's so... stylish! I LOVE IT!" Olaf gasped with wonder. In the small box was an adorable top hat, with a red linen line running across the bottom of the crown of the hat, or in other words, the band.

"I got you that, I figured it would be great to wear during fancy occasions, or just when you feel like it." Anna smiled softly at the snowman, making the perma-frosted creature crush her in a loving hug.

"Thank you Anna! I'll make sure to wear this out everywhere!" Olaf beamed, plopping the clothing on top of his cold head.

Next up in the circle was Kristoff, he had two presents compared to Olaf. One was from Anna and the other was from Elsa. 

"Elsa? You got me a present?" The blonde boy asked slightly confused, hesitating to touch the present, even though the twinkle in his eyes suggested he just wanted to rip open the mysterious box.

The Fifth Spirit let out a breathy laugh. "Yes, of course I did Krsitoff! You're literally my brother now, I thought it would only be fitting to get you something to honour you and say thanks for all you've done, since you and Anna are getting married only a few months from now."

With that, the ice man slowly opened the wooden box. Its exterior was quite bland, but very modern and cleanly made, its light wooden texture so smooth you would think it were skin.

"Oh my gosh, Elsa this is beautiful!" The blonde boy took the item out to reveal it was a small sculpture. It was roughly the size of a fully grown watermelon in height. It was a beautiful sculpture of Anna, Kristoff and Sven all huddled together, their smiles almost sparkling even though it was made of dried clay.

"Thank you..." He exclaimed quietly in awe, carefully placing the fragile object back into its box and grabbing Anna's present with excitement. 

Anna rolled her eyes playfully, watching the bigger boy almost break the tiny box that held her present for him inside. He wasn't the type to wear jewellery, so Anna was quite anxious.

He pulled out the gift, only to be met with the most expensive thing he had ever seen in his life. It was a bracelet, only the bracelet in question was made of diamond all around in a chain-like pattern. Engraved in slightly darker diamond was the letter 'A'.

Kristiff was speechless, he knew this present wasn't the cheapest. "A-Anna this is-"

"Ah! No buts, we are literally getting married soon and I am not returning it! I got this for you to remind you that I am always with you."

The blonde boy sat silent for a few seconds, before pulling Anna into his lap and squeezing her tight, kissing her deeply.

Elsa fake gagged closing her eyes and looking away with a giggle. This action made Anna want to flip her off, but she refrained from doing so.

"Annaaaaa it's your turn now." Elsa said, trying to get her sister from practically making out with her partner in front of her.

Anna sighed and grumbled inaudible words, pulling back from Kristoff and sitting next to the boy with a needy pout.

Honeymaren smiled brightly and leaned into Elsa's ear. "Are you guys always like this?" The feeling of her hot breath against Elsa's cold, pale ear made the Spirit shiver. 

"Yeah, it's quite nice to have it be like this though. It makes my day, these people always do." Elsa sighed with a smile, silently gesturing towards Anna and Kristoff bickering to each other about which gift the red head should open, and Olaf and Sven happily talking amongst themselves.

\------

"Woah there buddy! You're going to eat all of your carrots you got as presents!"

They were just about done with presents, having a few left. Honeymaren hadn't had a chance to give Elsa her present as Anna had silently gestured to her to give it to the blonde afterward as a surprise.

The brunette was getting more and more nervous about the interaction, but Elsa was secretly disappointed she hadn't gotten anything from the tanned girl. She had gotten a present for her best friend, but hadn't received the same. Normally she would understand why people couldn't get her things, but this hurt her more than it usually should.

"Okay... there's one more present left! It's for.... Honeymaren?" Olaf said with a slightly confused tone. He quickly brushed it off however and grabbed the bright red wrapped box, almost throwing it at Honeymaren's head in excitement.

The brunette luckily caught it in time, internally praising her reflexes. The sparkly yellow bow in general blew her away. She wasn't used to this much appreciation. Sure, in the winter festival there were many festivities and things similar, but the people of Arendelle got their loved ones gifts so expensive you were left wondering if they even had money leftover for themselves.

"To Maren... from Elsa." She whispered to herself with a smile. The girl looked over at the pale spirit. Elsa was frozen in an awkward pose, scared to see the girls reaction.

"You didn't have to do this, thank you." Honeymaren explained with gratitude, carefully undoing the bow and peeling back the wrapping.

She felt a soft cloth under her fingertips. It was a...... blanket?

She gasped inaudibly when she realised what it was. It was similar to Elsa's scarf that the blonde would always have draped over her shoulders, however this was much bigger, and a blue colour instead of a maroon red. 

It had the same patterns and everything, except the Fifth Spirit symbol was replaced by a figure of a girl with a Northuldran hat, her long braid cascading just past her hips.

"Elsa this is so cute! How did you even make this?" Honeymaren explained in awe, immediately cuddling up to the blanket, sighing in content at its warmth.

"I have my ways." The blonde said plainly, smiling victoriously after realising that Honeymaren loved the present.

"It's lovely, thank you."

Everyone fell into a happy silence for a few seconds, before one of the maids came in, interrupting the cheery aura. 

"Sorry to interrupt, Queen Anna, Princess Elsa, would you and your friends like some hot cocoa?" It was Gerda, that woman seemed to run a lot of amends around the castle. During the time that Elsa ruled, she was the most helpful person you could've had by your side.

Anna glanced at her little family, they all nodded hungrily, their eyes filled with glee. "Yes please Gerda, make that five hot cocoas and a side of carrots." The older woman than walked off with a smile, quickly going to fetch their needs.

"Well, that was certainly nice! What're we doing today?" Kristoff began, clasping his hands together and rubbing them. He had been in a positive mood everyday since he had proposed to Anna.

"Well, Elsa and Honeymaren, could you two go fetch us some coats, I have a few fun things planned." Anna winked at Honeymaren, clearly gesturing them to be alone together.

"O-Okay we can do that! Let's go Elsie." Honeymaren gulped with a skip in her step, grabbing the taller girl by the arm and dragging her along with her.

Elsa blushed at the new nickname and shook her head. She could add that the the list of pet names the brunette called her.

\------

The two girls silently strolled down the hallways of the castle. It might have been Christmas, but it was eerily silent. It seemed that Anna had laid off half of the staff off for the holidays to be with their family, which was nice of her.

Honeymaren then took a deep breath in, it was rather now or when they were awkwardly coming back with a bunch of clothing. "Elsa?"

The tall blonde turned to her. "Yeah Honey?" The girl's smile was so sweet Honeymaren thought she was having a sugar rush.

"I might have something to show you.... I just wanted to give it to you now before I chickened out." Honeymaren hesitantly grabbed the small, dark wooden box from inside her fur coat and held it out in front of her, signalling for her friend to grab it.

Elsa wanted to grab it, but she was afraid she would freeze it. It began to lightly snow above their heads on onto the ground as the blonde stared at the box. Honeymaren noticed this and smiled softly, slowly easing the present into her friend's hands. Elsa took a deep breath in and nodded slowly.

"Thanks," The blonde smiled, curiously pulling the tiny box open, making her eyes then widen in surprise, "Honeymaren this is- this is so beautiful." Elsa then saw what it was. The other half of the snowflake necklace laid inside of the box, in a soft and delicate dark blue cloth.

"It reminded me of you. Since you know, you're literally an ice queen."

Elsa spun her head to look at the shorter girl. "You're lucky it's Christmas or I would've just dumped snow on your head." That comment made both of them giggle.

"But seriously, thank you. This is beautiful, but why is there only half?" Elsa's brows furrowed in slight thought, she then had an idea but the girl walking next to her seemed to of already start to explain.

Honeymaren carefully lifted her necklace, revealing the other half of the shining snowflake. "Anna asked the exact same thing. I guess.... you've just made me a lot happier and lot more laid back since I first met you, I didn't really have the best past and relationships used to be sort of... off the table. I usually would just screw up each thing I had with another human being because I was rather scared or it didn't feel right. But somehow you just... feel right, this time round." The brunette had the most shy but dorkiest grin imaginable, the tanned girls cheeks turning a bright pink.

They then just stopped walking at the same time, Elsa froze and looked down at her bare feet shyly. She then felt a hand on her chin.

"Hey, don't hide your beautiful face, doofus." Frost formed under Elsa's feet in embarrassment, making Honeymaren chuckle. "It's crazy how you can do that, I find it strangely calming."

Elsa turned her head slightly to the side, "You don't think it's weird that I literally freeze random things or make it snow when I'm nervous or embarrassed around someone?"

Honeymaren shook her head. "No I think its cute, and again like I said calming. It's like I know some of your emotions aren't... being faked I guess. It's reassuring that you can actually put up with me." The shorter girl giggled at her own rant.

Elsa almost looked offended at the comment. "Excuse me I don't 'put up with you', you're my best friend! I love hanging out with you."

Honeymaren smiled at her words. "Really? Thank you. Did you want me to put on your necklace? It fits well with your new 'Fifth Spirit' dress."

Elsa nodded almost eagerly. "Yes that would good, again thank you it's truely beautiful."

Honeymaren scooted behind Elsa and flicked her luscious locks to the side, revealing her neck. The brunette edged closer to her body, nerves filling her. She carefully took her small hands and wrapped the necklace around the girls neck, her hands stopping at the back, resting there. 

Elsa felt the girls fingertips brush her skin and her breath hitched momentarily. She managed to stop freezing the floor below them when Honeymaren clipped the jewellery together, making them lose contact.

The Fifth Spirit turned around, satisfied. The two girls then smiled at each other, looking deep into each others eyes. Elsa only then began to realise just how warm Honeymaren's eyes looked, the irony being they literally were like honey. 

Honeymaren studied each shade of blue in Elsa's eyes. They glowed, even in the moonlight or in the dimmed lights of the castle where they were in that moment.

"Your eyes are so pretty..." The brunette whispered, leaning slightly in to look more into the taller girls eyes. 

"Th-Thanks, yours are unlike any other brown colour I've ever seen quite honestly." Elsa whispered, a soft smile etched onto the edges of her lips.

"I was wondering if I could do my tribes way of showing appreciation? We do this with very few people, and I think you deserve all of my praise, you've saved us all and helped us so much."

Elsa felt honoured that the girl was even suggesting doing this. "Only if you're comfortable, I would be honoured to see how you show your deep gratitude."

Honeymaren nodded and got on her tippy toes, grabbing the taller girls shoulders. A slight ray of snow and ice cascaded around them as Honeymaren got closer to Elsa's face.

"W-What're you doing?" Elsa stuttered, flustered on just how close the girl was to her. If anything surprisingly happened between them she was scared she would freeze the girls face off.

"Don't worry." Honeymaren breathily chuckled. They were mere inches apart now, they could feel each other's breath on their skin.

Honeymaren closed her eyes and made their foreheads touch, Elsa could swear her heart was beating so fast she was going to pass out.

The brunette rubbed their noses together slowly, making sure Elsa wasn't uncomfortable. The blonde caught on a reciprocated the action.

After a few seconds Honeymaren opened her eyes and stood there still on her tippy toes, her arms on Elsa's shoulders, smiling at the girls relaxed but awkward facial expression.

Elsa opened her eyes a few seconds after, immediately flushing as she realised Honeymaren had been watching her.

They were still very close, Elsa felt so tense to a point where she almost couldn't take it. Honeymaren appeared relaxed, but on the inside she was screaming.

Kiss me! Just kiss me! It's killing me!

Elsa's eyes flickered from Honeymaren's unsure eyes to the brunettes soft lips, and did just that.

And it felt like a weight had been lifted. It felt like heaven.


	6. Sun Sets and Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Elsamaren fluff the whole chapter. Anna and Ryder then become captains of the ship at the end.

And it felt like a weight had been lifted. It felt like heaven.

Elsa's throat tightened at the contact, but she couldn't stop. She leant in first and kissed Honeymaren with months of built up feelings. She felt as if she was letting go the last drops of her fear, even if the brunette didn't like her back. She accepted who she was now.

The snow around them evaporated in almost an instant, Elsa's confidence was back for those few moments, especially after she felt Honeymaren kiss her back with just as much passion, if not more passion.

The Fifth Spirit moved her arms slowly down to the brunettes waist, softly placing her hands there, not wanting to make the other girl uncomfortable.

Honeymaren swung her arms around Elsa's neck, going on her tippy toes to be as tall as the blonde girl. She secretly envied their height difference, wishing she was taller than Elsa.

The kiss was simple, but filled with emotions only the girls could feel. It might've only lasted a few seconds, but to them it felt like an eternity of unraveling locked away feelings, that kept peaking out rarely at times.

Elsa pulled back first, opening her eyes. Their foreheads rested against one another still, as they swayed back in forth in silence. The blonde spirit studied Honeymaren's starlike freckles under the mix of candlelight and afternoon sun. Her skin was glowing and clear, with spots of dirt on her cheeks. It was adorable, and reminded Elsa of the inner child that brunette really was.

Honeymaren's eyes fluttered open a few seconds after. The tanned girl turned a deep shade of red after she realised that Elsa had been looking over at her features not so subtly. The only reason Honeymaren didn't pull back first was she didn't want it to end, she was scared of it ending and she didn't even know why.

"Well, I was only expecting the nose rub, but that was pretty good too." Honeymaren chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand.

Elsa smiled softly, her shoulders relaxing in a way as if she had been expecting a more harsh comment. "I-I don't really know what came over me, sorry. I don't regret it though, that's the best first I could ever ask for."

Honeymaren's eyebrows rose in sudden surprise. "That was your first kiss? But you're a goddess! Who wouldn't want to kiss you? For a first timer that was.... wow. It's the best kiss I've literally ever had."

Elsa felt flattered by the comment, making her stutter over the most simple sentences. "I've never really liked anyone my whole life. I-I mean there was the occasional slip up where I would see a pretty girl or even a guy and immediately be confused, but not like this. And y-yeah it was, I still can't believe I did that." The blonde muttered to herself in disbelief, turning back in the direction of the hallway to continue their mini mission.

Before they set off again however, Honeymaren smirked to herself and then gently took Elsa's hand in hers.

And just like that, the frost was back. The wooden floorboards around them turned a light blue as Elsa's cheeks flushed momentarily. A sudden feeling then overwhelmed her, one that she had felt only once before.

The feeling was warmth. Elsa felt warm inside.

The blonde enjoyed the feeling. It was an intense and sudden feeling, very unlike her usual cold and numb skin.

"I-I like this, it's nice."

Honeymaren grinned at her happily. "I like this too, is this okay?" The brunette kept her boundaries all the time and always asked for reassurance. She didn't want Elsa feeling too overwhelmed or awkward as she knew how new and bad she was at things like relationships after they had a conversation by the beach about it recently. Hell, even she wasn't the most experienced.

The two women strolled down the long hallways of the castle together, ignoring the suggestive and surprised glances of the maids and staff members.

They liked this. The feeling of cold meeting warmth, it was different. The two girls were starting to love change, and the rush that came with it.

\------

"A-Are you sure I can't just maybe ride a reindeer back?"

"It'll be fine! Just hold onto me, he won't kill you." Elsa giggled, affectionately rubbing the chin of the water nokk. They were by the docks, after saying goodbye to Anna and Kristoff, who immediately after saying their goodbyes had to get back to Arendelle duties.

The giant water horse stared down at Honeymaren intimidatingly, standing tall on the water, its eyes boring into the brunette like a laser. "U-Um you're one hundred percent sure? He looks a bit... angry."

Elsa glanced at the horse and shook her head knowingly. "He's doing that to be a pain in the ass, ever since I tamed the spirits he has trusted me with all my decisions, that includes relationships. Plus, can't you remember when you practically bonded with him a few weeks ago?"

At the same time the blonde spirit ended her sentence, the water spirit let off a loud neigh that could only be described as a cackly laugh. Elsa playfully glared at the spirit, holding out her hand to her special friend. 

"You trust me, right? He was just playing with you." Honeymaren looked down at Elsa's pale hand and then up at the giant water horse. Its icy mane was flowing in the wind almost too perfectly. The nokk's posture and expression was a lot more tame and calm than before, making the tan girl feel more relaxed. 

"Yes, of course I trust you. Fine, but no more pranks from this thing unless you want me throwing up on you." Honeymaren chuckled, gesturing towards the nokk, intertwining her fingers with her.....girlfriend? She didn't really know what they were, but she didn't mind the slow pace they were going at. 

Elsa giggled excitedly and grabbed Honeymaren's waist, placing her on the back of the water nokk. The blonde then jumped on after her, it being less of a challenge as she knew ice like the back of her hand and she was slightly taller than her partner.

"You didn't need to do that, I'm a big girl you know." Honeymaren smiled sheepishly, turning a light shade of pink. 

"Oh I know, but sometimes riding an ice horse can be a bit... weird and challenging for some people to say the least. I suggest you hold onto me too." Elsa explained, looking over her shoulder with a soft smile.

Honeymaren complied and scooted closer to the Fifth Spirit, loosely wrapping her arms around the blondes waist.

Elsa gripped onto the restrains of the water nokk and whipped them forward, sending them off on top of the water and into the direction of the Enchanted Forest.

Honeymaren didn't expect the giant horse to gallop so fast, making her thrust forward into the back of Elsa. The blonde giggled at the sudden movement, shaking her head.

Embarrassed, the tanned girl's grip on the Fifth Spirit tightened immensely as she snuggled her head into the girls back. To Honeymaren's surprise, she felt incredibly warm.

Even though the spirit was always so ice cold, whenever Honeymaren snuggled into her she felt warm. She didn't feel cold near Elsa, not at all. The only time she had felt cold near the blonde was when Elsa was angry.

With a sigh the brunette let herself relax. Even at the incredibly fast pace they were going at, she still took the time to appreciate the beautiful scenery around them.

The ocean that afternoon was calm and restful, the sun reflecting down onto the water surface, making it shine like crystals. You could see the glistening in Honeymaren's eyes as she took in the beautiful water, specks of blue emerging in her usual honey chocolate eyes. 

Elsa took her time to one hundred percent relax in Honeymaren's touch, but once she did she didn't want her to let go.

She knew that with the water nokk's speed and the much more calmer waves, they would be there in almost half the time it usually took to get to the Enchanted Forest.

Elsa wanted to make the most of their time alone together. "Growing up all around this area, I somehow never got used to the beautiful glow of the ocean. When I was locked in my room as a child I would stare out of my window and watch all of the Arendelle citizens walk around and the ocean waves crash into the mountainside. It was peaceful and passed the time."

Honeymaren smiled into her back and plopped her head on top of Elsa's shoulder, almost startling the blonde. "Well, I will admit the ocean here is breathtaking, but your eyes still top it all, Snowflake."

Elsa was a red mess and had to focus on guiding the water nokk so she wouldn't begin to shake and stutter over her words. "You're too kind, Honey."

"I only speak truth, especially when it comes to beauty. You're stunning, Elsa. Arendelle is beautiful too, I bet you were a wonderful queen. Every single person there is so welcoming and happy, even that old grumpy journalist that wouldn't leave Anna alone grew on me." Honeymaren giggled, shaking her head at the image of a frantic Anna running around town to avoid the small framed man.

"Oh yes, thats Wael. He may seem like the rude type, but he was there for me in the end when we had a Nattmara attack just before we visited the forest." Elsa explained, her eyes desperately trying to bore to the task ahead of her and not the adorable girl curled up behind her, head resting on her shoulder.

Honeymaren nodded understandingly, she remembered when Elsa told her about the Nattmara. A nightmare that plagued Arendelle's foodstuffs and then put the townspeople in an eternal nightmare, making them having glowing yellow eyes and act wolf-like. It was Elsa's nightmare coming to life, her nightmare of being a bad queen. She almost cracked under the pressure and fear of the Nattmara, until Anna saved her and helped her accept her fears and not push them away, erasing the existence of the Nattmara.

"I still can't believe you went through that, and then travelled to the Enchanted Forest literally a few weeks after that and almost died and suffered more trauma. How did you come out almost completely fine? I look up to you when it comes to your strength, it's incredible."

Elsa smiled and looked over her shoulder, making eye contact with Honeymaren. Their faces are very close, so close they could feel their breath on each other's faces. "Well, truth be told I wasn't really fine, but becoming the Fifth Spirit has opened my mind greatly. Plus you, Anna and my family have really helped me with...everything. Sometimes my fears overtake me and I end up becoming a new scared person, so all of you have contributed to my recovery."

"Well, I'm glad I've been able to help you recover, leaving your trauma to mere little scars that perfect you even more." Honeymaren said low and in a soft tone, smiling brightly at the blonde girl in front of her.

The brunette then quickly leaned forward and tenderly kissed Elsa's nose, giggling when the taller girl cutely scrunched the bridge of her button shaped snoot. 

"You're cute, Hun."

"Not as much as you, Ice Queen."

\------

It was just before sunset when they arrived at the beach. A few children were still out playing at this later time, but they didn't notice Elsa and Honeymaren sneak by as they were too busy laughing and enjoying the last bit of their childhood innocence. Their joyful laughter was like a musical note, a note of hope and happiness.

The two barefooted girls sat down in the middle of the sand, stretching out their arms and legs tiredly.

Elsa sighed out of exhaustion, smiling tiredly to herself, while Honeymaren sighed with content, excitement in her eyes.

"I-"

"I-"

They both tried to speak up at the same time, giggling when they interrupted each other.

"You can go first, Snowflake." Honeymaren smiled, nodded her head as if signalling for the blonde to continue.

Elsa took the hint and spoke up. "I wanted to say thank you. You have been a teacher, a mentor, a friend, and now.... whatever this is right now. You have distracted me from so many things, and even when I felt so confused about myself and distanced myself from you, you still tried to be there for me. I'm so tired right now but I couldn't be more thankful that I tired myself out with you." At the same time the blonde finished up her sentence, a small yawn accompanied her lips.

Honeymaren's heart slightly melted at the news, feeling a little embarrassed about what she was going to say originally.

"What did you want to say, Hun?" Elsa queried after a few awkward seconds, contemplating rather or not she would be able to hold the brunette's hand.

"Oh, I-I um, it is pretty stupid don't worry."

"No please tell me, I won't judge you."

That was a sentence everyone knew was mostly false. Honeymaren sighed and began to awkwardly mutter things. "I guess I'm not the best with relationships like you are, and I know your probably thinking why the hell am I saying this as you're less experienced than me, but I really need to get this out."

Elsa's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the tanned girl begin to speak once again.

"I did have one... partner before you. And I-I know we really aren't labelled yet, but you're special to me Snowflake, a-and every time I look at you I'm reminded of an old soul that I broke. I hurt someone, purposely, because I couldn't even accept my own fucking feelings. There was this girl, who I'm pretty sure goes by another name in the tribe now, who made me realise my sexual orientation, and we had a little thing going for a while a few years ago," Honeymaren's voice cracked as her throat tightened, Elsa gently squeezed her hand with hers, "Then one day I did something stupid. I accidentally led someone into our little hideout that is now occupied by Earth giants I'm pretty sure, and they spotted... us. Yelana found out and didn't really care about our relationship, but Kara... oh sweet sweet Kara freaked out. She began screaming and yelling and the night ended with me yelling at her that she was nothing to me anyways and that I never loved her, which was the complete opposite of what I felt. I've tried to talk to her since then but she's ignored me every time which is understandable."

Elsa's mouth hung open at the brunettes outburst, surprised she ever had said words like that. However, when the Fifth Spirit saw tears spirting out of the girls eyes, she knew everything.

"Okay, okay look at me baby girl," Elsa begun as she saw Honeymaren's tears flowing more freely by the second, "I don't care what bad things have happened with you and your past relationships, all I care about is if you've changed and didn't mean it. And I can clearly tell you're still guilty to this day. I'm here okay? Do you need a hug?"

Honeymaren nodded silently and crawled in between Elsa's legs. The taller girl wrapped her arms protectively around the girls waist, calming soothing her and whispering sweet nothings to make the brunette feel better.

Elsa then whispered, "I'm glad you opened up to me, and to answer your sort of insinuated question from earlier, did you want to label us?"

Honeymaren took a deep breath in and had to refrain from squealing. "M-Maybe, would you like to?" She turned her head to look the spirit in the eyes.

"I would love too, Maren, you little warrior." Elsa giggled, quickly pecking the brunettes shoulder.

"W-Well I guess then, Elsa of Arendelle, would you like to do the honours of being my girlfriend?"

"It would be my pleasure, sweetheart."

It took them a while to realise there were still kids in the vicinity, but Elsa didn't care. She just cared about kissing her girlfriend. The blonde might have been scared, she might have been nervous, and snow and frost might've been flying around the area around them, but she ignored it and let herself let go of those negative feelings.

\------

"I am awake right? Like.... wow." Honeymaren stared up at the tent ceiling. It was currently night-time and they had headed back from the beach. Elsa had embarrassingly asked if she could sleep in Honeymaren's tent, only for the tanned girl to stare at her like she was questioning if it was a serious query. Now here they were, laying in an almost silence.

"What do you mean?" Elsa asked with a furrowed brow, laying closely next to her girlfriend, her head resting in her hand while laying on her side.

"The Fifth Spirit is my girlfriend..... somebody pinch me!" The brunette threw her hands up in the air excitedly, sighing with content over dramatically. She was an obvious dork.

Elsa slapped her shoulder playfully. "Hey, I might be a spirit but I'm still human... hopefully."

"Hopefully? That's reassuring! I'm just a mere mortal." Honeymaren giggled, deepening her voice when explaining how she was only a boring human.

"You may not have powers, but you have a secret ability. One you can only see in the soul. My sister has this ability too, maybe even me." The blonde smiled, still turned to the side, facing her girlfriend.

"What would this ability be hmmm?" Honeymaren hummed, turning her head to look directly at her girlfriend while still laying on her back comfortingly. 

"Love, love and compassion." Elsa stated with a small smirk, raising her eyebrows up for a split second. She knew that drove the other girl mad, but now for another reason she didn't know.

"That is so cliché I might puke. It's cute though, thank you." Honeymaren smiled awkwardly at her, still half in a daze at the Fifth Spirit's beauty. She then quickly rolled Elsa onto her back and intertwined their fingers, turning on her side and putting her head on the blonde's shoulder, half laying on the taller girl, trying to snap out of her awkward state. She was usually so confident. The effects the Fifth Spirit put on her were magical.

Honeymaren then spoke up after a while, realising Elsa had dozed off in her thoughts. "Your hands are cold." She whispered with a giggle, snuggling into Elsa's shoulder.

Elsa blinked hard a few times and then blushed, snapping out of her lovey daydream, realising what position they were in. It seemed Honeymaren loved being the little spoon secretly. "Wait, really? I'm so sorry the cold doesn't really affect me so I can't tell half of the time-."

"Hey, it's fine. As long as I get more time with you right now, I don't care if your hands are cool."

That comment made Elsa's body turn into a burning mess. The blonde pulled Honeymaren closer, putting the girl entirely on top of her. "You know, for a relatively small and muscly woman, you are quite heavy." Elsa chuckled jokingly, hesitantly rubbing her hands up and down the tanned girls back. She still had a chance of freezing the poor Northuldran girl and didn't want that to happen.

Honeymaren gasped drastically and mumbled into Elsa's shoulder. "Rude!"

After the heavenly sounds of Elsa's giggles died down, silence then washed over them. It was nice, not an awkward or tensional silence. 

Before Elsa could say anything else however, quiet snores came from under her. The blondes head slowly tilted down to Honeymaren, who had seemed to of snuggled oh so deeper into her shoulder and fallen asleep within merely a few seconds.

There were many things going through Elsa's head. How she ended up being the big spoon (as her girlfriend was an overprotective bodyguard), how pretty Honeymaren looked, and how she got so lucky.

Those thoughts slowly began to fade however, as the blondes eye's drooped, and a permanent smile etched into her face.

\------

"Ryder do I have to wake up Elsa and Maren? This news is quite terrible."

Anna and Ryder were slowly walking over to the Northuldra tribe's tents. Anna had abruptly arrived around ten minutes prior with Kristoff, having drastic news about Arendelle and the future of the forest. 

"It's still kind of early, Anna. They're probably still awake."

With a sigh Anna walked up to her sister's tent, only to find it was empty. Her eyes furrowed in confusion.

"Hmm, maybe they're talking to Yelana-"

A loud squeal cut off her rambling, causing the red headed girl to jump in her boots.

"Anna! Come here!" Ryder whisper yelled, waving over Anna to Honeymaren's tent with his hand.

"Why're you waving me over to Honeymaren's tent- HOLY JESUS." Anna had to clamp her own hand over her mouth to stop herself from squealing.

There the two girls were, laying down in Honeymaren's bed, bodies intertwined, Elsa's long arms around Honeymaren protectively. 

"This is the cutest thing I've ever seen." Ryder mumbled to himself. shaking his head. "I'm so single and alone."

"I think I'm going to leave them. They look really happy," Anna began, referencing to the huge smile that Elsa had imprinted on her face in her sleep, "Let's just go visit Yelana and inform them in the morning."


	7. Attack Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna informs the Northuldra of an awful attack that happened in Arendelle and is coming to The Forest to try to claim more territory. Elsa and the group help prepare the villagers for the attack, Elsa and Honeymaren teaching the children.

A gush of wind lightly blew through Honeymaren's tent as the early morning sun seeped through the opening, a few small leaves crawling into the space and lying on the floor lifelessly.

The tanned girls eyes fluttered open as Gale blew into the small sleeping space, tapping her face repetitively with frustration, drowning her in leaves and air.

"Ugh, Gale! I'm up I'm up!"

The wind spirit quickly flew off as fast as it flew in, leaving the brunette to furiously rub her eyes and realise she was alone in the tent. Where was Elsa?

With a sigh she pulled herself out of the soft blankets, putting on her boots and fur jacket and heading into the cold outside. It wasn't anywhere near as cold as Elsa's ice magic, or Elsa in general, but it was still a cold snowy winters day and unlike the Fifth Spirit, Honeymaren wasn't practically immune to the cold.

It seemed like a normal morning, the children were running around playing or helping their parents with things, and the adults were scurrying around the tribe and doing their daily duties. Honeymaren saw at the corner of her eye her brother Ryder over by the reindeer, feeding them carrots and other foodstuffs.

However the brunettes eyes were focused directly ahead of her where Yelana was. Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf were huddled around the grey haired woman, talking amongst themselves with worried expressions on their faces. Honeymaren especially took notice to Elsa.

The platinum blonde girl's eyebrows were furrowed so deep and low you would think she were in pain, and and her fists were clenched so tight her nails seemed to be digging into her palms. Her hair was also running free and flowing past her shoulders delicately. You could tell she was worried, irritated, angry and trying to calm herself down. Honeymaren even swore she saw tiny ice spikes forming around the girls feet, which started to scare her slightly.

She has such raw power, imagine if she lost control?

The two girls locked eyes, and Honeymaren turned her head to the side slightly in confusion. Elsa gave her a half smile and motioned to Anna about something, before walking over to the girl. 

"Good morning Honey." The blonde smiled, grabbing Honeymaren's hand affectionately and interlocking their fingers. Elsa took notice to the shorter girls cute bed hair.

"Morning Snowflake, may I know why Anna and everyone else is here?" Curiosity was imminent in the brunettes tone.

Elsa walked her over to the group and stated, "Sure, just please don't freak out as we don't know how to tell the village this."

That statement made the tanned girls knees feel slightly weak for some reason. Anna then greeted her with her usual bubbly smile.

"Morning Honeymaren! How're you doing?" Elsa quickly glanced at her like she was crazy, she didn't understand how she could smile so brightly after what happened in Arendelle.

"Morning Anna, I am doing okay for now, just curious as to why you are here. Shouldn't you be in Arendelle?"

Anna sighed and looked away for a second, focusing on the laughter of the children that were playing a few meters away from them. 

"Well, I came here with Kristoff and the others to tell you of... an attack... that happened in Arendelle, but it seemed you and Elsa were occupied, so I told Yelana instead and waited till' morning to inform you two."

A deep blush formed on both of the girls cheeks, making them look down at their feet awkwardly. Kristoff and Yelana both raised a suggestive eyebrow at them.

Bruni then appeared from under the ground, landing on Elsa's shoulder with a goofy grin on his face. Elsa giggled and made a snow cloud for him, wiggling her fingers in a circular motion.

"I think it's time we tell Maren, then everybody. If we want to be the most prepared it is better to do it now." Yelana explained softly, holding back a smile at the site of the salamander and the Fifth Spirit having a cute moment.

Anna nodded in agreement and turned to the tanned girl. 

Honeymaren's brows then furrowed. "What is it you've been refraining from telling me?"

Anna took a deep breath in a began to explain, as Elsa held her hand encouragingly for support. "Last night Arendelle was attacked by this rebellion, or raiders, we really don't know. It was filled with people from kingdoms all over the country, and we don't know who led this attack or why. But all we do know is they were trying to take children like some....some stupid gang of vikings, and get into the castle and burn it down. Luckily this group was small, so our defences just scraped by, but they left a marking and a letter. They're coming here with a much bigger army than last time, and we are afraid this army will be too big. All of Arendelle's citizens are hiding out on the cliffside near the town, where they did when the spirits broke the town and it almost flooded, just in case they attack again. I can't have them getting hurt while I'm gone."

Honeymaren's mouth hung open as she gulped quietly. If they were coming to them, that would mean they would have to fight and prepare defences. What worried her was they were only a small and peaceful tribe, not trained army soldiers. 

"Why would they take only children, why not men or women? Did they take any kids?" The brunette queried, pursing her lips forward slightly.

"They took only a couple, but even one child taken is too many lost. And who knows, maybe to scare us, for slavery, work....or worse." Elsa mumbled, her hand grabbing her pale chin in thought. The taller girl paced back and forth, her mind racing with the dozens of possibilities. "Who could do such a thing like this? Arendelle is such a small place compared to some of our trading counterparts. We are mostly peaceful and take things with a heavy heart. There was really no clear leader in the front or middle."

"Maybe because the leader wasn't there." Anna butted in, almost whispering as she looked over the note for a final time.

Elsa grabbed the paper carefully from her sister and realised on the back of the letter was more writing in the bottom corner. 

I'll be waiting for you when we arrive, my dearest Anna.

Elsa swallowed loudly, they knew her sister personally. Her jaw then clenched as she tried to practise her breathing exercises to calm herself. "When I see this person myself I will make sure to freeze them solid, because they've spread fear and anger across the land and stolen some of our children!" Her usual crystal blue eyes became a dark ocean.

Honeymaren quickly put her hand on the spirit's shoulder. "Hey Snowflake, it's okay. We'll figure this out, we can figure this all out together if we put our ideas together. This is nothing to what you have faced before."

Elsa glanced over at her girlfriend and toothlessly smiled at her softly, a puff of air escaping her nose to represent a sort of laugh or show of gratitude. "What would I do without you, huh?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Honeymaren grinned, turning to Anna who watched the scene with a smirk of curiosity. The brunette seemed to be able to calm Elsa down immensely. "May I read what was on this letter?" The read headed girl merely nodded and Elsa handed the piece of writing to her.

It read;

'Freedom, we want freedom. We want a chance to rule, we want to give everyone a chance to rule and be a ruler. We want justice for the kings, queens and kingdoms that have looked down on us. We are the 'Open Door', we want a NEW life. A life where greedy witches and rulers don't control us. A life where the feeble people don't come to us pleading. Only the strong deserve our trust, not the weak. WE have magic, the RIGHT magic. Not evil magic of ice or of snow, but GOOD magic. We heal, and we will be in control, rather it be by force or by negotiation. You have two weeks to prepare, good luck.

I'll be waiting for you when we arrive, my dearest Anna.'

Honeymaren's nose scrunched in disgust, but also in perplexity. "Why would they want to raid kingdom after kingdom in this country and start a new life? A new revolution and community? Arendelle has done nothing but give and give and help people! And this forest is- magical yes- but still peaceful!"

"They want power." Elsa explained in a plain voice, her eyes not focusing on anything in particular, just staring into space. Her face looked numb, dull and cold, but her eyes looked like millions of starts sparkling in the sunshine. She was thinking, her mind puzzled by dozens of opportunities. 

"What do you mean?"

"They want pure power. They want to rule an empire using their rules. For years people have been trying to find out a way to have powers like me, and use it to control and corrupt. They only accepted me once they realised they could maybe study it. If they have found out how to use things similar to my magic, they are deadly and powerful. I have never fully blasted out my powers before, because I know it would rather hurt me, someone else or the environment. But people like this aren't afraid to do that. Anna and I once met someone who was secretly power hungry, and he was sent back to where he came from, but he was only stopped because we stuck together. These people are manipulative, snake-like and pure evil. If we aren't careful we could crumble to their numbers, but let's not let that break us. We have each other, the Northuldra people, and all of Arendelle at our side."

The group fell into a sudden silence at the speech. It started off worryingly, but ended motivationally. Elsa always had an amazing way with words, her voice always booming when she ruled, even though she spent most of her life locked away and alone.

"I now see why you were ruled as one of the best queens of Arendelle by our people." Kristoff chuckled, wrapping an arm around Anna's waist with a small smile. 

"Well I'm pretty sure I am and will be Arendelle's only 'ice queen' with magic ice powers, too. So thats probably why." Elsa giggled, making frost appear out of her fingers to emphasise her point.

'Are you kidding me Elsa? Even if I grow to be a strong queen, I will never be as hard, determined and bold as you were. You did more bravery in three years than most rulers do in a lifetime. You made sure every single individual person in Arendelle was taken care of twice over before you even slept. Even during the Nattmara, before we realised it was your nightmare, you pushed away your fear and carried on for me, for all of Arendelle. Your powers may be cool, but your integrity is more powerful. Seriously, whenever your voice boomed through meetings in the castle I can guarantee everybody shut up quickly. They still do that and listen to you and I'm queen." Anna giggled and explained, shaking her head.

Her sister was a natural leader and protector, and the red head constantly reminded her of it. Even when Elsa became the Fifth Spirit, she was still cautious and hesitant about calling herself a great leader.

"Awe, thanks Anna." Elsa said with gratitude, her voice soft and warm. The two sisters embraced for a few seconds before they snapped back to reality.

"How are we going to figure this out? The kids don't even know how to defend themselves, and our warriors need a lot more training, me included!" Honeymaren ranted on, throwing her hands up in the air, almost in a defeated manner.

Elsa's eyebrow then raised suggestively, as she smirked victoriously. "I might have an idea for that."

\------

"Okay! Who here knows where to hit a target who is much bigger than you when you are in danger?"

Elsa never really expected herself to be in a teacher like job in her lifetime, but there was a first for everything. They were by the river in the woods, a large group of children sat a few feet from Elsa as she explained information to them, her voice almost booming and echoing.

The children varied in age, some being as young as five and as old as sixteen. The adults that couldn't fight were left to be trained by Kristoff, and the adults that could fight were left to practice setting up traps with Anna.

An older girl raised her hand quickly at the Fifth Spirit's question, her bright green eyes sparkling with hope. Elsa thought her eyes were emeralds for a few short seconds. She must've been around fourteen.

"Yes, what's your name?"

"My name is Jada. Aren't the most painful areas the groin, nose, kneecaps, the throat, the jaw and solar plexus?" 

Elsa grinned at her triumphantly, making Jada grin from ear to ear. "That is correct. For all you younglings out there I would recommend-" Elsa flicked her right hand around and created a solider replica that was roughly six feet tall, "-hitting down in the lower areas. You may be small and quick, but you're also much weaker. Hit or kick things like the groin, kneecaps, ribs and kidneys. Taller people can also hit these spots, but I also recommend the jaw, nose, pulse points behind the ear and around the neck, and even the eyeballs."

The blonde pointed to the ice sculpture as she spoke, her eyes glancing over at the dozens of children who were watching her closely. They were very obedient and had been raised well.

Honeymaren watched from the sideline. She would help the kids with basic defence and Elsa would help them practice dodging incoming objects or people with her ice magic. Well, that was the plan.

After around half an hour of blabber and words, Elsa had put the children in a single file line. They all took their turns hitting, swinging and kicking at Honeymaren with their tiny fists and feet. It was the plan to have them remember basic defence off of the top of their heads by the end of the week, for their safety. 

The blonde found a lot of amusement watching her Northuldran girlfriend get swung at by tiny humans repeatedly, making a giggle erupt from her throat.

Honeymaren got through another kid and then raised an eyebrow. "You think this is funny being attacked by tiny warriors? How about you come over here and do it, or even better, verse me!"

Elsa's face flushed as everyone's heads turned between her and Honeymaren. A few of the boys in the group immediately began to chant a plethora of 'ooo's and the like.

The Fifth Spirit then had an idea, and stood as tall as she could. Elsa strutted over to Honeymaren with as much confidence she could gather with dozens of kids staring into her soul.

The brunette noticed her sudden height change and gulped audibly hard. Maren's breath hitched as Elsa itched closer to her.

When the blonde reached her girlfriend, she towered over her like a giant, when in reality she was only two or three inches taller. A smirk came across her face when she leaned into Honeymaren's ear.

"Hun, I would love to verse you someday, but I think you forgot I'm a bit of an ice witch and I can make things like this-" Elsa sprayed ice under Honeymaren's feet and lightly pushed her, causing her to fall on her rear, "happen to you."

Most of the children erupted into a light laughter as Honeymaren sat on the ground like a deer in headlights. Elsa merely laughed quietly, covering her hand.

"But I would still love too, need a hand?" Elsa offered her hand down to Honeymaren, causing the brunette to pout heavily.

"No fair you're an ice badass..." She mumbled to herself, shaking her head and accepting Elsa's help.

The Fifth Spirit swatted Honeymaren's shoulder lightly, "Hey, there's kid's here doofus, watch your mouth."

Honeymaren rolled her eyes playfully and made her way back to the line, cracking her knuckles in preparation for another round.

"When I'm finished up here I'll tell you and we can move on to running and dodging and all of that. If Anna has any updates on the Open Door's whereabouts can you inform me please?"

"I'll be sure to do that, Honey." Elsa grinned politely at her girlfriend, nodding her head. Before they had come up with a preparation plan to defend the kids and the forest, Anna had sent out spies and a small group of troops to track how fast the Open Door were travelling. It was smart on her part, Elsa didn't even know Arendelle had undercover soldiers.

The blonde then made her way over to a nearby tree and sat with her back against the rough bark, sighing contently. 

She glanced over at Honeymaren for a long time. Her girlfriend could get hurt in this fight and it would be her responsibility. 

If anything happened to Honeymaren, she would make sure whoever hurt her got a piece of her mind..... maybe. She wasn't an overly violent person, but then again when Anna had frozen solid she had been incredibly sad, but so angry to a point where she wanted to freeze Hans' heart in revenge.

A large groan interrupted Elsa's thoughts, causing her to furrow her brows curiously. It seemed a little girl around the tender age of seven had punched Honeymaren in the side accidentally, causing her to dramatically tense. An angelic laughter then filled the air.

"Ugh, good one! You're one of the best little warriors I've seen for sure! Just make sure not to expose your head when punching kiddo, or you might get hurt as well." Honeymaren then took off her fur jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her long sleeve shirt, exposing the glistening muscles on her tan arms.

Elsa gulped and had to erase every bad thought in her mind at the site, and decided to dive into thoughts about the children. She had to protect the forest, she was the Enchanted Forest's protector now, it was why she stepped down as queen. She was free here.

It was her home, and she wasn't going to let some fake magic wannabe group hurt her family.


	8. Man She Once Met

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were prepared, and The Open Door had arrived.

It had been roughly under a week since they started preparing. Anna and Kristoff were optimistic as usual, confident in their teachings and layouts they had created by putting their minds together.

Honeymaren was sure they had shown the children enough, and that it was unlikely they would get so far into the village where they could steal a child anyway.

However, Elsa was a sweaty mess. Each night she slept she kept having nightmares, of flashes and slashes. Bangs of red, deep blues, and greens filled her mind as soon as the sun set each day. There was also another huge colour that filled her mind, purple. It was like a vision, and reminded her of the images Pabbie had showed her as a frightened child.

The blonde could never really make out what the dreams were. She was just surrounded by deep and violent colours, anonymous screams accompanying each new shade.

A voice calling her snapped Elsa out of her thoughts. It was Anna walking over to her worriedly. Elsa was sitting on a log by a fire that was not lit.

"Elsa! Elsaaaaa! Oh, there you are! You had me worried. Are you okay?" Her sister plopped next to her with a sigh.

The Fifth Spirit shook off her nervous butterflies. "Sorry Anna, I was just a bit distracted in my thoughts. I'm holding up okay, any new news?"

The ginger shook her head with a hidden grimace on her face. "Sadly no. We don't even know when they're going to attack now. Our troops lost track of where they were travelling, and they could attack from any side of the woods now that the fog is lifted."

The thought of them taking children without them even knowing made Elsa's stomach twirl. She almost thought she was going to hurl, cause a weird burp to escape her throat. "U-Um sorry, pardon me. I guess we'll just have to survey the entire area, where are Arendelle's soldiers camping out?"

"Right next to the Northuldra tents. The village people seemed to not mind being close to them again, after all the Fifth Spirit is from Arendelle and they trust you. They're getting on well I think, it'll strengthen their chemistry in combat for sure." Ever since Anna had started dating Kristoff she had learned more and more about fighting, muscles and....reindeer.

"Well, thats good. Do you know where Honeymaren is?" The blonde's eyes merely sparkled at the thought of the girl. Lately she had been wanting to be near the girl more often. It was like she was craving her affection in some way, or more than that.

"I actually don't, no. I last saw her go off riding with Ryder in a hurry, so who knows. Why you so curious, missing her already?" Anna wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"N-No! Well y-yes but n-no not entirely! I am capable of living my life for a few hours without her thank you."

"Oh please you are more whipped than I was with Kristoff in our first weeks. How long have you two been dating anyways? One minute she's giving you this necklace, the next you two are spooning, don't tell me you've already-"

Elsa wrapped her right hand around Anna's mouth out of embarrassment. "Shush it, Anna! We've been dating for around two weeks, okay? We certainly have not done that yet."

An awkward silence fell between them as a passerby walked past and glanced at them weirdly. Anna then decided to open her mouth once more and relentlessly tease her sister. "I bet you've thought about it, though."

Elsa's cheeks flushed as she summoned a snowball into her hands and chucked it at her sister's head, causing Anna to erupt in a giggly laughter. The blonde couldn't help chuckle at the red head's childish antics.

"I'll have you know I have-"

"ELSA! ANNA!" A loud, ear piercing scream filled the two girls' ears as Elsa's sentence was abruptly cut off. Dozens of people got up from their seats and ran to grab their spears, clubs and bow and arrows.

In the distance Elsa could see a singular reindeer running clumsily back to the stables. The blonde wondered if it were ever going to stop running from the distance it was covering.

But as the details of the people riding on the reindeer came into view, a sinking feeling overwhelmed the Fifth Spirit, causing her to run over to the two figures.

"HONEYMAREN! Ryder! Holy sh- Holy! What happened?" She looked up at a sweating Honeymaren to see there were tears in her eyes.

"W-We were riding the reindeer when they ambushed us and dragged Ryder to the ground and beat him senseless. I managed to get some of the lighter people off of him and punch them out cold, b-but the bigger ones almost got me too. I had to abandon one of the reindeer to get us back here."

Olaf and Kristoff ran over to the commotion in a hurry as the brunette spoke, Sven pursuing slowly behind them. Olaf gasped at the site of Ryder's bruised and beat up body. Scratch marks scattered across his face and pools of blood stained his ripped clothing.

"I-Is he going to be okay?" The small snowman asked with a teary face.

Elsa glanced down at him empathetically, managing to give him a small smile. "I don't know buddy, but I'll make sure to do what I can." The Fifth Spirit then turned to Honeymaren, who had hopped off of the reindeer.

"Where are these men now?" The blonde asked through gritted teeth, her eyes going from a worried baby blue to a slightly darker ocean wave. It was like the dark sea.

Honeymaren noticed the change in demeanour on Elsa's face. "I don't know, but I know they're here. Ready Arendelle's army, we have a war to win."

Anna nodded a bit too quickly and practically ran across to the other side of the tribe to do final preparations.

Elsa took a deep breath in to calm herself. "Someone! I NEED TWO PEOPLE TO HELP THIS BOY STAT! WE NEED MEDICAL ATTENTION." You could almost feel the cold and shivering ice in her voice, even as it cracked with worry. The blonde swung her hands back and forth and around, creating an ice stretcher for someone to carry.

Two Northuldran men came running over with horrified looks on their faces. "Wait, this is Ryder! It's the animal boy, what happened to him?" The shorter man asked, scratching the stubble growing on his chin. He must've been no older than twenty, as he still had a baby face.

"You don't want to know, kid. Please take him away and get him immediate care." The two men nodded understandingly at the spirit's statement and lifted the heavy ice stretcher with a groan, lifting up opposite ends carefully and placing the injured boy onto it.

While the fight would be happening, all the wounded, elderly or ill people would have to camp out and hide, praying and hoping that their friends and family would win in this fight. 

Elsa's eyes furrowed deeply as tried to calm herself. Luckily, her girlfriend noticed this action.

"Hey, Snowflake. I hope you know it's not your fault at all." The brunette put a reassuring hand on the pale girl's shoulder.

"I know, I know, it's just I'm here to protect everyone and everything in this forest. That includes your brother." Elsa swung her arms lazily around the girl's neck and pulled her in for an affectionate hug. The blonde took a deep breath in and savoured Honeymaren's presence.

"Hey, sometimes even the best heroes can't save everyone. Its inevitable, and it certainly isn't your fault. If anything, it's mine for riding out our reindeer at such a bad time. I just wanted to get away from everything so badly and forgot the circumstances." The tanned girl wrapped her arms around Elsa's back and rubbed her hand up and down it reassuringly .

"I hope you're okay. I promise I'll do my best to protect you, Maren."

"We're in this together now, Snowflake."

\------

When a loud horn like sound screeched throughout the Enchanted Forest, Anna immediately knew who or what it was. She had heard it once before when they stormed her kingdom and stole some of their children.

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, Olaf and Honeymaren were standing on a temporary made ice platform so they could more easily talk to their battle companions. They had moved to the border of the forest, not too far off where Honeymaren and Ryder were attacked.

"What is that noise?" Honeymaren groaned annoyingly in pain, covering her ears with her hands.

"It's them." Anna spat with disgust, simultaneously grabbing Elsa's hand for support.

"We're in this together, Anna. That includes facing them together." Elsa spoke softly, her voice hard and clear with intent.

The red head nodded in appreciation, turning to the small army they had gathered. They had all of the adults in the Northuldra join into this fight, accompanied by the hundreds upon hundreds of Arendelle soldiers. Rather it be guards, trained troops or just individuals who volunteered to defend their home from any further dangers. Every single person was just as brave as the next, and they had a big chance of winning with their numbers.

"Everyone!" Elsa yelled through the screeching and complaints of the people below them. Everyone drew silent at the voice of the powerful girl.

"Thank you Elsa," Anna began with a small smile of gratitude, "Everyone, I know times may seem tough. Times may seem dark and dire, especially to the ones who have experienced this attack once before. But all of you are still here, united as one for a common cause. To defeat a dark enemy. Some of you are soldiers, war heroes and knights. Some of you are trained in guarding people like royalty, and some of you are mere citizens who want justice and their children back. I treat every single one of you with the same level of respect, no matter how experienced or known you are, as coming out here today alone to fight with us takes more bravery than any normal human. I thank every single person standing here today, all of you are heroes. I am proud to lead you all. And do not worry, your families back in Arendelle are safe, I have left my most trusted friends to take care of everybody. They have served my family for years, they know what to do."

As Anna finished her speech, Elsa created ice steps leading off of the tall platform. They all walked down the slim steps single file, their heads held high. 

The crowd made room for them to slip to the front, bowing their heads slightly in respect. Anna and Elsa held hands as they made their way to the edge of the forest. The screeching got louder and louder the more distance they marched.

But then something came into view a few hundred yards away from the border, near the elemental stones. It was dozens upon dozens of black dots. Flags raised high as they furiously walked towards the forest. They all wore masks, representing snakes, dragons, or anything reptile like or scaly. 

"This is it, you ready Sis?" Elsa whispered, her grip tightening on her sisters hand as she held them up towards their faces.

"As ready as I'll ever be. The children have been hidden to the back of the group where Yelana is, correct?"

"Yes, I'll make sure they don't touch any more kids." Elsa spat in disgust, then turning to look at Honeymaren. The brunette merely nodded to her and mouthed something.

"See you after the battle, Snowflake."

The comment made the blonde smile tenderly, her stomach swirling with more confidence and love. She almost felt ice flowing through her veins as she sighed contently.

"ANNA! Long time no see, Princess!" A voiced echoed throughout their ears, making chills spike up Anna's spine. She immediately grabbed Kristoff's hand affectionately. 

"It's Queen Anna of Arendelle to you, Hans."

She knew that voice, and she would never forget it. That venom that once manipulated her into thinking she was loved. The red headed wouldn't of minded ripping apart his heart and squishing it into the concrete now that she thought about it.

"Oh, so Elsa gave up that ridiculous title finally? This battle should be easy then." He showed his face in the crowd finally. The man appeared on a horse at the front of his group- which had to of been at least three hundred people-with a flag slotted on the back of his animal. It was a deep blue, and said, 'WE REBEL. THE OPEN DOOR.'

He looked different. A few years of isolation and torment had obviously done a toll on him. His once neatly pressed down hair was baggy and thrown in every direction imaginable, its deep orange colour now a dirty flame of brown and red.

Hans' clothes were much different than his usual attire used to be. He wore dark brown boots, baggy charcoal pants and a black long sleeve shirt that had dark bandages wrapped around it in certain places.

"Anna is a fit queen! I stepped down as I found myself, not because it was a bad title. YOU of all people do NOT get to discriminate my sister!" Elsa growled through gritted teeth. She wanted to freeze Hans' confident grin. Frost started to ooze out from her long pale fingers. 

"Even if she is a fit queen, is she a fit protector?" Hans laughed, swinging his sword cockily in his hands. That's when something stood out to Anna, his eyes.

They were purple. And not just the iris part, all of the parts of his eyes were purple. Steam was rising out from them like he was some demon, or being controlled. 

"ENOUGH!" Anna roared, her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, "I wish to speak with you personally Hans, if it really is you." She hissed challengingly, as Kristoff and Elsa glanced at her worriedly.

"As you wish, my love. Open Door, let us give them.... a warm welcome, shall we?" Hans raised his arms.

"FOR REBELLION." The evil man yelled in a chant like tone, his army reciprocated the sentence.

"FOR JUSTICE." Anna and Elsa locked eyes, they were going to have to go their seperate ways in this battle. Their own fears were being played out in front of them. 

"FOR UNITY." And just like that, the first blow struck. A rain of arrows fired down upon Arendelle's forces, making a few people already be knocked down before movement began.

"FOR ARENDELLE." Kristoff screamed, jumping on Sven and leading Arendelle's army into the middle of the battlefield, a shield placed protectively on his chest.

Elsa shot out ice barricades for people to use, then made eye contact with Honeymaren, who seemed to be face to face with a taller man. They swung their weapons back and forth, the man being more and more aggressive the more he missed. Honeymaren desperately swung her spear in different ways to protect herself, before leg swiping the man onto the ground. His head hit something hard, making him get knocked out cold.

The blonde sighed with relief and immediately signalled for the brunette to follow, taking off in a hurry. She sprinted away from the battle and towards the children, who desperately clung to Yelana with fear.

Honeymaren arrived a few seconds later, huffing and puffing frantically. She was surprised at Elsa's incredible speed. "Is everyone alright?" Worry shined in her chocolate eyes.

"We are alright, the Northuldra will make sure to protect us as best they can, although I do fear they are slipping through." Yelana commented, glancing over at some stray soldiers that had been trying to slip around the battle to the children. 

"We won't let that happen," Elsa butted in, "Remember what I told all of you. Fear is not your enemy, is it something that you have to embrace to make yourself stronger. Accept your fear, overcome it and be strong. Remember your lessons, we can do this."

Jada the fourteen year old looked up at Elsa and embraced her in a sudden and quick hug. The Fifth Spirit accepted the hug with surprise, closing her eyes with a small smile. "Thank you, Queen Elsa. You may not be Queen of Arendelle anymore but you are certainly queen of this forest. You're our protector." The comment made the blonde almost melt. 

A loud groan caused them all to turn around quickly. Honeymaren's grip on her spear tightened as she looked around frantically, only to find a few Open Door warriors had slipped through their defences. 

"I got this." Elsa stated, her hands almost glowing as she raised her arms in an offensive stance. With a mere pushing of her hands, shoots of ice dispersed from her cold fingertips and wrapped themselves around the masked men. She squeezed the cold containers shut with a cold expression, showing no empathy for them. Once they were completely stuck, Elsa aggressively swung her hands to the right, sending them into a nearby tree. The ice cracked and split apart as the men groaned in pain, closing their eyes and accepting sleep.

"Woah." Honeymaren commented, almost embarrassed that she wanted to help her girlfriend. 

"You're not so bad yourself, darling." Elsa smirked, referencing to the spear the tanned girl was holding.

What they weren't aware of was the dark conversation going on at the other side of the battlefield, that explained almost everything.

\------

Anna gripped the ice sword Elsa created for her tightly as she made her away around the battling and falling bodies. She was allowed to walk through to talk to Hans with no trouble, and she didn't even know why. She looked to her left and saw dozens upon dozens of clashes and deaths appearing in front of her eyes. The echoing bangs of clashing swords would forever haunt her after this battle, she knew that for a fact.

"It's been a while since I've seen your face. You know last time I saw you was when you were a mere child, punching me off of a boat."

Anna jumped out of surprise and raised her sword to defend herself, only to find Hans waiting for her at the back of his army, merely sitting on his horse....watching. 

"Yeah? Well you deserved it, you freak. If it really is you." The red head barked, lowering her sword to talk. She never let her grip loosen, however.

Hans merely chuckled at her statement. "I see your childish comebacks and antics are still with you. What a shame the queen of Arendelle has to go out fighting like a child."

Anna's eyebrows furrowed deeply and she snarled at Hans. "I am no child. Even if I was, at least I'm not some fairytale monster." The ginger then realised that his eyes were still that deep glowing purple, and his voice seemed off.

"Hans, what are you?" Anna queried with a confused face, becoming slightly scared at the sight of the taller mans eyes.

"What do you mean? I am me." His voice lowered several octaves as he smiled and jumped off of his horse with a light hop. He unwrapped the bandages wrapped around the arms of his sleeves .

It was only the when Anna could see everything. Hans wasn't Hans. He was a puppet.

Purple smoke was hovering all around his body, and it seemed the bandages could hide the rips in his shirt and contain it.

"N-No you're not. You're being controlled! Who are you and why did you choose Hans?" A silence fell as Han's blank expression turned into a conflicted one.

"Why? He is merely a puppet sent here to scare you. I know all of his memories, his worst fears, and most importantly your fears. I see his memories. I know you would be thrown off from his appearance here today- help- and you would tremble at the scars you had from your encounters with him."

Anna's brow raised in confusion, mid rant Hans had hiccuped something, almost whimpered it with fear.

"I am not afraid of whoever you are, you should be afraid of the Northuldra and Arendelle, of me, and especially my sister."

"Ah, yes, Elsa. I was once afraid of her magic, it challenged me in ways I had never seen, but then I realised I could channel this magic and control my own world. I have my own powers, much more powerful than she could ever be. Elsa's fears will be her downfall."

Hans' possessed voice then abruptly stopped, and it seemed his eyes were flickering back and forth between different colours. Back to normal then back to a devilish red, then to the deep purple. He was fighting whoever was controlling him.

"A-Anna!" He chocked out, falling to his knees, grabbing his throat lightly in a way as if he was trying to stop something crawling inside of him again.

"H-Hans? You're eyes... they're-"

"N-Normal again, I know. I have been betrayed, I just wanted power to use in my own kingdom, so I helped them get stronger. But you must know all they do is manipulate and control people. What is happening will be all of Arendelle soon. I-It was a mistake, and I know we mutually don't like each other much, but you must help, past Elsa's castle, at the bottom end of the North Mountains- AH"

The dirty red head screamed in pain as his eyes squeezed shut with a groan. The groan in particular didn't sound human. It had possessed him once more.

"This whiny thing doesn't shut up! I guess now you know our location you will have to face me yourself, if you dare do that." Hans' possessed body then climbed on top of his horse once again, surveying the ongoing battlefield. Then, with a flick of his hand, the horse's eyes glowed the same purple possessing the Southern Isles prince. 

"W-What is that? What are you?" Anna almost gushed, scared for her own safety, and all of Arendelle's. Not even Elsa could control normal animals. Sure, she could control all of the spirits and create snow creatures that lived and breathed, but she couldn't possess animals. It was supernatural.

"This, my child, is dark magic. I am the sixth spirit that was... banished... per se, for being too powerful. We are the superior power, and your sister is a mere pawn in magic."

Anna almost wanted to slice Hans' head off, but then remembered it wasn't actually Hans saying that.

"I'm going to find you. We all are going too, and you are going to get a huge case of karma." Anna hissed, her fists tightening around the grip of the ice weapon she held dangerously close to her freckled face.

The purple man chuckled, shaking his head. "If you would like to believe, but I think its best you look at everything around you, and not at the lovely little chat we're having. It seems your troops are down... quite a few."

The Queen of Arendelle gasped when she turned to the battlefield. The Open Doors numbers seemed to grow the more ground they covered, and she knew she would have to ask Elsa for more help.

With one last groan, she turned to the possessed Hans. 'You. I am going to find you. And I am going to make sure you are put somewhere where you can rot."

\------

"Elsa! On your left!" The blonde frantically turned her head to the left to see a terribly large masked man running full force towards her. She super speedily dodged to the side last minute and sprayed a wall of ice in front of the muscular warrior, pushing it into him and making him run face first into it. He knocked himself out cold, even with a mask to protect him, and groaned an exaggerated breath before closing his eyes in pain.

Being barefoot in Elsa's case had its advantages. The spirit could run faster in her opinion, and slide down ice without her shoes clipping on anything.

Honeymaren fought a few feet away from the spirit, her spear swinging back and forth between two lanky men. They were shorter than her- which surprised the brunette- and weren't the muscular type.

With one good slash on their stomachs and a hard shove, they were sent to the ground yelling in pain. It was like they had never had a scrape in their life. Honeymaren scoffed amusingly at the thought of the people being uptight kids. They weren't warriors, they were mere scared boys.

"How many more are coming?" Honeymaren puffed, checking up on Elsa, who was standing a few feet away from Yelana. Behind Yelana were the dozens of children, tiny spears in their hands. They hadn't had to use their spears yet as Elsa and everyone else had protected them greatly. The children that were too young or weak to defend themselves were put at the very middle, while the older kids were out at the front. A wall of Northuldra warriors surrounded the older teenagers as a sort of double shield.

"Almost twice as more most likely. I need to help everyone out there but, I don't want the kids to be left alone."

"They won't be alone, I'll protect them Snowflake, I promise."

A sudden body then flung into Elsa's arm, it appeared a Northuldran girl had fallen into her with a croaky groan. She profusely apologised and limped back over to where a sudden commotion was forming.

"Get off me!" It was one of the small children, they were squealing and kicking frantically trying to get a man off of them.

Elsa squinted her eyes to see it was Kirra. The girl who had fallen into the tree above her the very same day she had written out her feelings for Honeymaren and realised who she truly was and how she felt. Her brown eyes were full of fear as she was practically dragged against the ground by one of the largest men Elsa had ever seen.

The man in question wore a thick, scale green mask, and had too of been at least six foot five inches. His bushy beard poked through the holes of his dragon mask and out of the sides, and his thick muscular arms made him look as dense as an ironwood tree. 

A few of the teenage boys try to hit him or swing at them with their weapons, but it was if they were mere toys, and they bounced off of him like a bouncy ball. 

That was when Elsa noticed something too, purple smoke was oozing out from the top of the giant's dragon mask. It made her eyebrows furrow deeply in confusion.

The Fifth Spirit shot out daggers of ice to trap the man against a nearby tree, but he raised his shield just in time to smack them away, making the thin pieces of ice smash with ease. Elsa frantically began to create another round of shots, but the man was too quick and had already gotten away.

Honeymaren sighed shakily and turned to her girlfriend. "I'll go after him. You make sure everyone is stable and that the battle begins to turn in our favour." With a quick peck on Elsa's lips, the brunette was gone in a blink of an eye, dashing into the forest's thick wood, leaving fresh tracks in the ankle high snow.

To say the Fifth Spirit was worried about Honeymaren would be an understatement. That man was terribly huge, so huge in fact he didn't flinch at her ice daggers. She would need to incase him with her thick ice next time around.

"Elsa! I think it's time we move up so we can be more protected and you can help out." Yelana yelled over the distant sounds of shouting and metal clashing on metal.

"Good idea. Everyone stay together! This fight is long from over."


	9. Eyes Of Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight rages on and Elsa encounters feelings she's been desperately avoiding her whole life, while trying to save Honeymaren

Elsa's helping hand in the front of the fight had turned the tide tremendously. Many of the smaller masked men had crumbled under her power within mere seconds of encountering her, being knocked down cold and effortlessly.

The bigger and taller soldiers were a much harder problem, but the blonde had made her way around each difficulty and used their weaknesses to her advantage, their common weaknesses being how slow and stiff they were.

However the fight wasn't always one side clearly winning, as the Northuldra soldiers seemed to of been getting tired the further it went on. Especially the elderly that still had a kick for combat, men and women like Mattias had started huffing and puffing and slowly losing ground. 

The Open Door had started to see this advantage and weak point in Arendelle's defences and had started to attack the elderly warriors in the middle all at once, wanting to push through and slaughter them all. The fight had gone on long enough already, and everyone just wanted it to stop. 

Yelana had a few men guarding her closely, their wooden and stone weapons barely holding up against the might of the dozens of huge men approaching them with their metal blades.

But it was when Yelana was roughly grabbed by the hair and slammed into the ground that Elsa truly realised she had had enough with everything. It was like The Open Door had some type of extra strength pierced into their veins. Anger was slowly rising in the blonde, and she tried to control it by merely tensing her fists and breathing in and out slowly.

It mostly worked, but a few drops of irritation escaped in the form of ice spikes that shot out from her fingertips, trapping at least a dozen men to the ground by clipping their clothing. Elsa made sure she didn't kill anyone, as if she did that she wouldn't know if she could control her anger at all after it. 

Then, with one final push, Elsa had sent a shockwave of ice across the battlefield, sending all of the soldiers flying gracefully in the air and back at least ten metres. Anna, who was still trying to run back to her sister with worry, felt a cold shiver overcome her. She didn't know if her sister was hurt or winning, but whatever the chill was meant something had overcome the blonde girl.

Then just as they had come, the Open Door had been set back. They had all been knocked unconscious, left there to lie in their own defeat. The Open Door had been.... shut.

A deathly silence boomed throughout the land as Elsa panted out of exhaustion, falling onto her knees. She had done it, with one final effort. The people of the Enchanted Forest and Arendelle could rest finally, for now.

Kristoff saw Anna through the hundreds of groaning bodies and immediately rode over to her on Sven as fast as his reindeer's legs could carry him. 

"Kristoff!" Anna exclaimed happily as he hopped of his best friend to greet his wife.

"Anna! You're safe, thank the trolls." The tall blond man embraced her tightly, cupping her cheeks softly. They swayed back and forth in silence.

"Of course I am, I can't just die, I'm queen." The red head joked, leaning in to deeply kiss her lover. It was quite strange, but the calming silence of an ended war made them feel just a little bit safer, even if there was a secret evil out for them.

"Where did Hans go? He better not of hurt you." Kristoff growled annoyingly, helping Anna up onto Sven.

"He didn't touch me, Kristoff. It is okay I assure you. And plus I will explain later but, Hans wasn't really... Hans."

"Huh, how does that make sense?"

"It'll make more sense once I tell everyone, trust me."

The reindeer loving boy nodded understandingly. He trusted his fiancée more than anything, and he trusted her to make the right decisions.

As they rode back in the quiet towards the edge of the Enchanted Forest, Anna saw her sister staring over the after battle's remnants, and already knew she would have to have a talk with her. Something was up about the blonde.

The Fifth Spirit had checked up on Yelana, who apart from a lightly scraped head a few bruises, was luckily completely fine. Everyone had come out alive, well most. Some of Arendelle's soldiers had fallen before the battle had even started due to the rain of arrows that had occurred after Hans' dramatic appearance. While some had fallen to the blades of The Open Door

"Elsa, you're okay! Did you create that cold shockwave? I-It literally knocked out everyone." Anna exclaimed in relief. There wasn't a mark left on her sister, apart from a scrape or two.

"Y-Yeah I did. Whenever I seem to get angry or sad or just overly emotional in general my powers end up growing larger than I could ever imagine. It is kind of scary but, strangely cool." Elsa said in a soft tone, looking down at her smaller sister with a warm smile.

"It was amazing. I'm just happy you're okay, Elsa. You've done so much for me, so much for us. Without you we probably would have lost today. Without you I could not be balanced. You are truly a balance in my life, other people's lives and the spirit's lives. I am so happy and proud to have you as my sister. You have gone so far in discovering yourself and I hope you know I'm always going to be here to lean on. Always. I will never turn against you, and I'm always going to try to protect you, even though you are a magical ice queen of the forest." Anna giggled at the end of her statement and almost tackled Elsa into a hug.

Some could say it was immature for a queen to almost make her sister fall over by hugging her so tight in public, but the two girls ignored the awes of some of the crowd and the sly grins on the Northuldra and merely embraced one another tenderly. The sight of The Open Door's retreating and panting soldiers made them feel stronger, more powerful.

But of course it gave them more than that, it gave Anna and Elsa hope. It gave everyone hope. Hope that they were strong enough to conquer any battle or difficult task, no matter if you had a small army, magical abilities or not. 

Elsa glanced over at the few bodies on the ground of Arendelle's fallen. She felt like crying, but she didn't cry, she didn't have it in her. It was like her emotions had been pushed so far over the edge that seeing a scene like that was small to her, which was frightening. The blonde felt like it was partially her fault for their demise, but then reminded herself that this whole mess didn't start with her, it started with Arendelle. There was a much bigger target on Anna's head compared to hers, and sometimes she seemed to forget that. Whoever wanted all this power was certainly going to get a ....talk from her when they met.

"Everyone," Elsa began, glancing over at all of the wounded, fatigued and sweat filled soldiers that had served Arendelle with everything they had. Some were laying down, some were resting their heads against trees with their hands placed firmly on their hips, and some were undoing their hair to let their locks rest, "I know this must've been hard for you. I know it was terribly hard for me, so I can barely begin to imagine what you all have gone through. You should know that today you have fought with respect, with passion and with dignity. You have shown that no matter how small of an army, you can conquer anything by working together. The Northuldra have become my home, like Arendelle, and I hope that the two civilisations can work in the future after this. This battle was also hard, it took many lives on both sides and drained us to the point where we could fight no longer. But the amazing thing is, not a single on of you gave up, no matter how tired, sore or sad you were. Today, you have made history. Today, you have not just fought as soldiers, you have fought as warriors. As true heroes. You protected the innocent, and I do not know how to repay every single one of you."

The crowd cheered at her statement. Through the yells and chants you could hear faint lines similar to, 'you don't have to repay us, you saved us,' and 'you and the Queen have done enough'.

Anna smiled up at her sister with a proud smile and then her face went blank for a few seconds.

"Hey Els, where's Honeymaren? I thought she would've been all over you like the animal she is by now." Kristoff snorted at her comment, who stood a few feet away from them.

Elsa's eyes then widened in realisation as her head snapped to where they originally started their battle, ignoring her sisters snarky comment. She prayed to god the footprints were still there.

She took off on her bare feet, running frantically back through some of the woods and back to the elemental stones. Dozens of fresh boot marks could be seen in the snow. Her marks could be any of them

The blonde then noticed a pair of marks that were slightly off to the side and astray. They didn't lead into any of the battle remnants, they led straight into the middle of the woods and to the other side, where the side exit would most likely be, near the Earth Giants.

Elsa didn't take care or notice that her sister was trying to catch up to her from a few hundred feet away and screaming her name, she just wanted to find Honeymaren and see if she was okay.

"How could I leave her alone out there like this?"

\------

The last thing Honeymaren remembered was her stupidly chasing after a huge muscular man, attempting to beat him and getting knocked out miserably.

The brunette awoke to a cold feeling on her face, only to realise she was being dragged across cold, fresh snow. Like a recently caught animal, she was a good catch.

Honeymaren tried to let out a scream, only to realise her mouth was gagged with a dirty, skin toned cloth that had turned a sewage yellow. Her arms and legs were tied with a strong rope at both ends. She felt helpless, it made her sick to her stomach.

The only thing she could do was wriggle immensely in the mans grip, causing him to hiss in pain. "If you don't stop squirming I'm gunna' do the exact same thing you did to ma' leg, you hear me lady?"

The brunette smirked to herself, she had at least done some damage to him. It seemed when she had stabbed his leg she had hit some type of muscle or tissue, as the masked man seemed to of accompanied a permanent limp in his usual confident stride.

A small whimper came from above her, and Honeymaren realised the same child she tried to rescue from earlier was still thrown over the man's shoulder like a simple light rag. Her arms hung limp, as her sobs became whimpers of sudden sorrow.

A realisation then washed over Honeymaren. They were approaching Earth Giant territory, and beyond that point was the end of the Enchanted Forest's land. Where was Elsa?

Tears bundled in Honeymaren's eyes at the thought of it. Of course someone was going to come for her and rescue her, she had friends and family that cared.

Or did she?

The brunette had to physically shake her head to get rid of her nasty thoughts. She tried screaming her lungs off even with her mouth covered, praying someone would rescue her and the little girl, whose name was Kirra. 

The bruises covered all over her stomach didnt help either. But if Honeymaren even had the slimmest chance of escaping, she would use it and fight the man again, and again and again and again. She wasn't giving up yet.

"Fuck, I know this forest is enchanted but I didn't know it could get this bloody' cold ya' know." The muscular man muttered to himself. A thick Scottish accent clearly seeped through his masks deepening tone.

Honeymaren furrowed her brows confused. She knew it was snowy and cold, but there were random snowflakes floating around in the air with no cloud or producer in sight.

She then realised something. There was a figure a long way away from them, running at them at such a speed you would think they weren't human.

But this girl was human, this girl was Elsa.

"ELSA!" Honeymaren tried screaming through her gag, but it only came out as gurgled muffles.

Ice began forming quickly around the land as spikes appeared in front of them, almost stabbing their tall captor.

The Fifth Spirit was finally in yelling distance, and she looked furious.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" The blonde yelled- no, screamed as the muscular man holding Honeymaren stopped dragging her and put her down, along with the child.

The brunette had to admit, she really wanted to hear Elsa swear more.

"Taking a souvenir, ma'am." He smirked, glancing down at Honeymaren like she was some type of meat.

Elsa growled and her fists tightened. She shot two thin pieces of ice in their direction quickly, the shots hitting Honeymaren's rope cuffs and shattering them, setting her free.

"Get the kid." Elsa stated blankly, her eyes focused on the man.

The muscular captor somehow connected the dots before Honeymaren could get away with Kirra however, and grabbed a small combat knife from his baggy pants. 

He swiped at Honeymaren viciously, catching her off guard. She practically threw Kirra as far as she could in the direction of Elsa, before embracing the pain in her back.

The stab didn't go all the way through, but she knew she would need help almost immediately after if she were to be okay. He had hit a spot where blood practically oozed out of her like melting ice.

"NO!" She heard the faint screams of her girlfriend as her mind went in and out of consciousness, her faint breath puffing out of exhaustion. The pain felt... numbing.

"You." Elsa exclaimed. Her eyes turned as dark as the dark sea. No, they were black.

The blondes eyes turned a dark black as she shot out a thick wall of ice out of anger, breaking the mans knife in half and separating Honeymaren and the child from him.

He gulped in realisation. "You're the ice witch. The boss has told many tales about you, y-you're a monster!"

Elsa scoffed as she held both of her hands out, her palms facing upwards. She then groaned quietly and raised two walls beside the man, bringing her hands together to make him stuck tight.

The masked captor moaned in pain as he squirmed and desperately tried to wiggle out of his position.

"You think I'm a monster? You were the one trying to KIDNAP people!" A storm brewed far away from them. The man then knew he had screwed up when he looked into Elsa's eyes, he had caused this storm and sudden outrage.

"YOU were the ones killing INNOCENT people and capturing INNOCENT CHILDREN. Taking them away from their families and their friends. YOU are the monster. And do you know what I think?"

She wiggled the fingers around in her right hand as she approached where the man was stuck, creating a sharp ice spike.

"I think, you should leave. Leave and never RETURN." Ice blew over the mans face as he swore he felt the definition of a chill run through him. He was terrified, even though this women was a mere 5'7. Elsa was face to face with him now.

"Go tell all of your buddies that they should never come here again." Elsa's eyes were dark and angry. So angry she looked emotionless. The girl dug the ice spike into the mans skin, slowly sinking it into his skin. He immediately grimaced in pain and refrained from screaming.

"Do you like how that feels? Exactly.." The blonde dug it even further into the muscular giant's skin. He now screamed for a few seconds in pain as he felt blood trickle down his body.

"E-Elsa? What're you doing?"

The blonde's eyes flickered for a moment as she looked down. It was Honeymaren, she had awoke.

"I-I..." Elsa's eyes turned back to her normal blue as she looked down at what she was doing. It was like she had lost control of what she was doing, caught up in a fit of rage.

"I don't know I..." She unfroze the man and immediately threw away the blood stained spike, looking down at her freezing and shaking hands. 

The storm cloud had disappeared just as fast as it had appeared, and the frost in the air had evaporated not long after.

"It's okay, Snowflake. It's okay to lose control sometimes. J-Just maybe get me to a medic and Kirra back home safely." Honeymaren chuckled with a cough, looking up at Kirra who looked like she had just seen her worst nightmare but ten times worse.

Elsa had almost forgotten the child was there. A sudden guilt washed over her as she realised a six year old had to experience the 'protector' of the Enchanted Forest almost kill a man out of pure rage and uncontrollable emotions.

Honeymaren then closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her. Elsa's eyes widened in a panic and she began constructing an ice sled, instructing Kirra to hope in.

The sled was relatively small, but it would have to do them. The blonde had done this once before when she had sent Anna off with Olaf, having to go to Ahtohallen alone and face her fears, so she hoped she remembered how to guide the ice vehicle.

Once they were all in, Elsa set them off on the journey, creating an ice path back home for them to ride on.

"I'm a monster..." The blonde ended up whispered to herself, trying to put pressure on her dying girlfriends wound.

And for the first time in forever, the cold did bother Elsa. The cold, wet feeling of tears sliding down her cheeks and falling onto her hands, knowing this all could've been avoided if she had just paid more attention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elsa was low key scary in this chapter oop-


	10. The Forbidden Element

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna informs everyone of her new information and bonds with Ryder. Elsa struggles with old thoughts / demons and comforts a sleeping Honeymaren.

It was like there was a weird type of mist in the air. A type of invisible smoke that people couldn't see, but they definitely could feel. The aftermath of the tragic battle had left both sides at loss, especially the Open Door, as they had retreated.

The faint taste of blood rested at the tip of everyone's tongues, and the distant echoes of pained screams still remained in everyone's ears. The voices kept ringing and ringing and ringing.

The Northuldra had retreated back to the middle of the forest, to their home, to treat all of the wounded. The amount of casualties estimated had seemed to of tripled tenfold in reality, and it took many hours just to get the wounded onto stretchers, carriers and the such to get them away. 

Anna's eyebrows furrowed at the damage. The ancient elemental stones had also been damaged in the fight. Swords had carelessly sliced and scratched away at them like the stones weren't ancient powerful ruins. It almost angered the red head as she realised the elements had been quite quiet since Christmas. The only one present was the Water Nokk, and even it had not been seen.

Gale, Bruni and The Earth Giants however had seemed too of also gone dark. Hiding away for whatever reason they had. Anna had an itching feeling towards what this reason was, and it wasn't pretty.

A tap on the queen's shoulder snapped her out of her almost infinite thoughts. "My Queen, the last of the men have been taken away to be patched up in the forest, shall we gather up our things and begin our journey back to Arendelle?"

The gingers lips pursed in thought, she then managed to stutter out a sentence. "N-No. Send everyone to the Northuldra's whereabouts, I need to tell you all things. It is an important matter we must all know about." The young queen almost grimaced at her not so proper language, but the young boy seemed too of not noticed her slip up and merely nodded understandingly, jogging over to a few men that were sitting down, commanding them instructions.

Anna suddenly huffed loudly, sending a few strands of her hair away from her face momentarily. She was tired, and she hadn't seen Elsa since the blonde took off for Honeymaren, making her only pray they were alright and went straight back to the tents to be patched up and taken care of.

Praying. These days merely praying that someone was alright wasn't good enough. You had to be physically there to protect them or keep an eye on them in these conditions.

"Anna!" Olaf's bubbly voice caught her off guard. The small snowman waddled over slowly with Sven by his side. It seemed the reindeer had taken a liking to the permafrost being. "I'm happy you're okay. Where's Elsa?" The curiousness in his tone made him sound like a small child asking an innocent question.

"I actually don't know. I presume she's with Honeymaren and the Northuldra people." Thats the best excuse she could give the snowman until her statement was confirmed.

"Okay! Let's get going then. I want to see Elsa and it seems everyone is already going in that direction."

The comment made the queen giggle quietly, covering her hand. "That is because I sent them back into the forest, Olaf. I want to tell everyone an important story."

The snowman's snow lips formed a perfect 'o' shape, "Ooo, what is this story?"

The ginger leaned down and whispered to him, "It's a secret."

Olaf's shoulder slumped dramatically, causing him to pout and look down at his stubby feet. 

Anna chuckled and shook her head, Olaf really was a child they had to look after. It was adorable and he always seemed to distract them from any recent event that hurt them.

"You'll find out soon buddy, everyone just needs to know at the same time." And with that, the red headed queen picked up Olaf by his cold waist and placed him onto Sven with a grin, tapping the end of his large carrot nose. "Until we arrive though, did you want to play I spy?"

That comment made the snowman's eyes light up with excitement. Anna knew that he would choose very obvious choices, but that didn't matter. What matter was keeping the positive flame alive so her kingdom didn't fall into a depressive state like her sister almost did so many years ago.

\------

For the first time in a while, the girl could actually feel the hot sweat dripping down her ice cold forehead. Her timed and heavy breaths only got quicker the longer she ran. Her bare feet thumped down hard against the leaf scattered grass, dirt picking up around her toes and the soles of her feet.

Elsa's brows were furrowed in concentration as she ran. The ice sled managed to get to the destination of where the battle began, but it seemed everyone had already left. She didn't want to waste anymore time creating another vehicle, so she merely told Kirra to run back home, and sprinted off with one thought in mind, Honeymaren. 

The blonde had grown attached to the Northuldran girl, she would even say that Honeymaren was just as important as Anna to her, the brunette being her whole world and reason she continued.

Honeymaren had lost too much blood for Elsa's liking. It was like a new pattern of colour on Elsa's dress, a deep red accompanying her usual white attire. Blood leaked out of the tanned girl's back like a volcano on the verge of erupting. She was limp in Elsa's strong arms.

'You are going to be fine, she's going to be fine. Just get her back, that is all that matters.'

Elsa's thoughts screamed at her from every side of her brain. They kept attacking her ruthlessly with their vile comments, and the blonde didn't think it was ever going to end.

'You could have helped her, then this wouldn't of happened.'

'What would Anna think of you failing her? She would be embarrassed!'

'You should be ashamed of yourself for not protecting her.'

'STOP'

Elsa almost yelled at her own creations. She didn't want to think of the lowest possibilities, not now, not ever. She hadn't failed anyone, yet.

"You're going to be okay, Maren. You are, and I'm going to make sure of that." The blonde spirit whispered while she ran. The faint smell of fire smoke and distant blurs of tents made Elsa's heart leap nervously in her chest.

It was Yelana that noticed the panicked girl first. She was talking to a few younger males that held spears in their hands tightly, and immediately gaped at the sight.

"GET HER MEDICAL ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY, PLEASE."

If this small stab would've been treated earlier, Elsa wouldn't of been so worried. But the amount of blood oozing out of the girl was enough to make anyone sick to their stomach, even the bravest of warriors. 

"I-Is she breathing?" Yelana gasped as she ordered the two men around her to take the petite brunette away to a place safer. 

"Barely." Elsa's voice cracked as she swallowed a hard reality down her throat. The reality being she had gotten distracted. She had snapped.

'This is all your fault.'

'No it isn't! I couldn't of known the outcomes.'

'The outcome against a man so terribly huge? Exactly. You should've known.'

Tears dared to sting in the Fifth Spirit's eyes as the blonde took a deep breath in to calm herself. Yelana noticed this and looked at the young girl with concern.

"Elsa, it will be okay. When Honeymaren has been patched up we'll inform you." The old woman's smile was almost enough to reassure the spirit of the more positive outcomes, but the demons of her mind always seemed to of shined in the worst of hours.

"Thank you. Do you know where my sister is?" Elsa asked, desperately trying to steer the conversation away from the elephant in the room. The elephant being her carelessness.

'No, even if I had paid more attention it's not my fault.'

'You still lost control. You're weak and dangerous.'

"Elsa!" A relief filled yell echoed through Elsa's ears, breaking through the dark cage of her thoughts and letting in little specks of light.

Yelana smiled gratefully at the sounds of Arendelle's queen. "That would be your sister."

The blonde spirit turned to her left to see a red and purple blob running full force towards her, her arms spread wide open. It seemed the young girl had given up on a more formal and queenly entrance.

They crashed together in an exaggerated embrace. The two girls were alive and well, and so grateful for one another. They still had each other, and that was all that mattered to them. Elsa softened under Anna's calm touch, feeling safe in her little sister's arms. Even though she was much taller than Anna, Elsa felt as if they were protecting one another equally.

"You're okay.....not even a bruise. I'm so happy.... how's Maren?"

Elsa slightly squirmed at the mention. "U-Um I am not entirely sure. She should be fine, as she's getting treated now."

"Wait a second- ELSA, your clothing! It's stained red everywhere! What happened?" Anna's face wore an expression of pure shock, her jaw almost hanging to the floor.

Elsa embarrassingly looked down at her usually elegant dress, and there was indeed a few red patches all over her. If only Anna knew how much more blood had been spilled in reality, that hadn't landed on her.

The blonde flicked her fingers lazily down towards the stained areas, ice and frost immediately doing their work and shooting effortlessly from her fingers like a canon. Within a few mere seconds, the white piece of clothing was blood-stain free.

"Anyways, sorry about that I must've not noticed when I was running back here. Let's just say a.. stabbing happened." Elsa gritted her teeth and her jaw locked into place out of anger.

She definitely would have killed that man if Honeymaren hadn't stopped her.

Anna saw the change in Elsa's eyes. They darkened like a void, not as bad as it had been, but bad nonetheless. The blonde's usually shiny eyes were dulled and numbed all of a sudden.

"A stabbing? Thank gosh you were there to save her."

'You barely did anything to save her! You wasted precious time and it's your fault she's hurt!'

Elsa's lips straightened into a thin line. Her thoughts kept invading her brain and point at her guiltily. "Barely, I could have done more..." The Fifth Spirit managed to mumble a barely audible comment out of her lips.

Anna's brows furrowed in concern as she shook her head at her sister. "Elsa, you couldn't of know every. single. outcome. Thats just inhumane! You did all you could, and you saved her still didn't you?" The ginger cautiously looked into Elsa's cold blue eyes. The ocean that was the spirit's pupils relaxed while looking into Anna's more turquoise ones.

With a sigh, Elsa managed to pull together a small smile. "I guess so, thank you."

The taller girls small smile made Anna grin widely in accomplishment. "No, thank you. You saved us."

\------

"This matter is dire! I know you are all wondering why I made all of you stay behind instead of rushing back home to your families, but trust me, this information is crucial to the survival of this forest, and Arendelle."

Even with Anna's tiny five foot three inch frame, the red head's voice still managed to create a booming echo across the large crowd they had gathered around them. Maybe because she had studied Elsa when she was queen. The two sisters stood on one of Elsa's hand made ice platforms, while Kristoff, Olaf and Sven stood at the front of the crowd, eagerly wanting to be informed of the new information.

Elsa glanced at Anna nervously, she hoped nobody would freak out or leave unexpectedly. 

"As you all know, I confronted the leader of the army we beat today, and it was non other than the thirteenth in line of the Southern Isles, Hans. This may come of a shock to you, but there is more news," The red headed queen took a deep breath in to calm herself, "Hans wasn't....Hans. He was being controlled like some animal by another being that is still unidentified. All we know is that this being, or beings, live by the North Mountains, beyond Elsa's castle. It was some type of magic... dark magic that controlled The Open Door today, and I need brave volunteers to come with me to defeat this mystery operation."

Yelana's mouth suddenly hung open in the middle of the crowd as her eyebrows deepened in a confused manner. 'It couldn't be. They were mere fairytales.'

"I know what this is. The Sixth Spirit has awoken to take power from everything and everyone. As a child I was told that this was the forbidden element, who was banished centuries ago for wanting to manipulate and torment people for power. They obviously have found the perfect time to strike with everyone moving around."

Elsa's head snapped towards the old woman's croaky voice. 'The Sixth Spirit? Forbidden Element?'

"What type of power does the Forbidden Element possess?" Elsa half-yelled to reach Yelana's old and damaged ears. The crowd fell to a dead silence as they processed the new information.

"They harness fears, lies and anger. It was always different than Earth, Fire, Wind and Water. It was Darkness. It was once the Fifth Spirit, but it then became banished thousands of years ago after a power craving scheme. My ancestors merely said that the Spirits needed balance to fight back this greedy power user, so they called upon the citizens of the Northuldra to have a legacy of people, and you Elsa are the next light to defeat this darkness. We need to move quickly, from all of the stories I have learned the Sixth Spirit shows no mercy."

Hushed murmurs came across the crowd as the Arendelle sisters exchanged worried glances. Kristoff urged to run up to his partner and shower her with questions, but refrained from putting more pressure on the new queen.

"I will come with you!" A voice erupted from the quiet crowd, making Anna immediately look around to find the owner of the noise. It seemed one of the surviving Arendelle soldiers had raised his hand high, a confident look on the young boy's face.

"I-I recently had a daughter with my wife and I want to protect them. If dying protecting the future of my family is the outcome then I will do so, Queen Anna."

The ginger smiled at him with gratitude. "Thank you, what is your name?"

"I-It's Marcus, ma'am."

"Please, call me Anna. You have shown much respect."

One by one, more calls began to emerge from the mix of Northuldrans and Arendelle citizens.

"I will accompany you!"

"We accept too!"

"I am in, my queen!"

Elsa tried to hold back her pride felt towards her little sister, but lost control and ended up grinning wider than she ever had as queen. Her sister had finally became the leader she yearned to be all those years ago.

\------

The crunching of footsteps outside Ryder's tent made him stir in his sleep. He opened his eyes slowly with a groan, immediately wincing at the pain in his sides.

"Ryder? Are you holding up okay?" The brunet smiled at the voice. It was only Anna coming to visit him.

"Y-Yeah I guess so, minus the headache and aching body." Ryder chuckled with a humorous grin, sitting up straight from his bed on the floor.

Anna frowned at his comment, worry shining through in her baby blue eyes. The ginger seemed to of noticed the different coloured bruises on his face. "Do you need anything then? Cause I can literally get you anything I have the materials-"

"Anna it's okay I assure you. Thank you for the kind gesture, though." His eyes showed a large amount of attitude for the queen, who for some reason cared so much about him.

Anna noticed his sudden sour face and cutely turned her head to the side out of confusion. "What's wrong?"

The older boy sighed loudly. "I just- why do you care so much? For me? For Honeymaren and the Northuldra? You could've just let us handle this battle alone, or not try to help us escape the fog in the first place."

Anna chuckled and shook her head in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? One, even if we wanted to leave we still would've had to save you all as Elsa was being called by the forest, but we did want to help you as I'm sort of known for being.... overly trusting." Anna giggled to herself. 

"But most importantly you have become family to us now, honestly. As you know, Honeymaren and Elsa are a... thing... even though they haven't informed us yet, and you, Maren, Yelana and the Northuldra in general have become so close with the people of Arendelle. I care deeply for you, Ryder. I would even say if Sven wasn't here then you would be Kristoff's best friend. You're very important to me and can come to me anytime." The reindeer comment made them both laugh quietly.

Ryder sent the red head a soft smile that reached his eyes and slowly stood up on his own two feet. His legs shook in pain each inch he raised. The brunet tried his best to hide his gaining pain.

"Woah there Ryder, are you sure you can stand?" Anna immediately stood up from her kneeled position on the floor and shuffled quickly over to the older boy in concern.

"Y-Yeah I'm okay. I just really wanted to do this."

With that, Ryder embraced Anna in a longing and needed hug. The boy plopped his head on top of Anna's and closed his eyes affectionately.

Anna smiled lovingly and wrapped her arms around the brunet's back. "What was this for?"

"Nothing. I'm just happy we found you guys. I have a feeling Honeymaren would've gone crazy if she hadn't met Elsa, and I'm glad I have finally met people I can call close friends. I've never really been the most popular or liked in the tribe. Most people thought it was weird I talked for reindeers but then I met Kristoff and it made me feel much better about myself."

Anna pulled out of the hug and shook her head with a slight smirk. "We should be happy we found you! We found more friends, more family and created.... special connections." The read headed girl wiggled her eyebrows at her last statement.

It was then both of the two young adults laughing, the haunting memories of the past few weeks slightly fading out into the back of their minds. Even if it was just for a second.

\------

Elsa didn't know if she wanted to cry, be relieved or just be numb. Her faced expressed a sour expression as she squinted down at Honeymaren- who lay in her tent on the floor- with her brows furrowed in thought.

She kept trying to swear to herself that it wasn't her fault, but as the spirit kept looking down at her almost dead girlfriend, dark thoughts kept invading her. 

The blonde had previously tried to create an ice tent to block herself out from the world and meditate, a calming solution she had learnt from Honeymaren believe it or not, but cracks had started to form the more she drifted off and thought about her lover. The ice would turn yellow, then pink, then red, then it would come crashing down on her head, causing Elsa to quickly evaporate it before it caved fully onto her.

The brunette at her feet slept peacefully, resting her deep and bled out wounds. Especially the fatal stab she had received to her back. It would definitely scar.

Elsa sighed and quietly sat onto the floor next to Honeymaren cross-legged. "Maren.... I'm so sorry. I hope you know I lo- I care about you so much. More than you could ever know or realise."

'I hope you know it's all your fault, you still can't control your powers, even as a spirit. You're useless.'

Elsa gritted her teeth at the emerging demons. She would definitely need to talk to someone about this later. The only other time she had felt like this was when Anna froze, and she had let Hans purposely draw his sword on her.

The blonde glanced down to Honeymaren once more and realised her blanket had fallen off, exposing her bare feet and undergarment pyjamas. The brunettes long sleeve shirt had drifted up slightly, exposing her toned stomach and bandages. Her ankle length pants had also lifted up higher on one side of her waist than the other side. It was a cute site to say the least, especially when the occasional snore came from Honeymaren.

Elsa smiled lovingly down at the girl. She was so perfect yet so fragile. Elsa went to put the brown fur back on top of Honeymaren, but then suddenly the brunette began to shake and mumble things in her sleep.

"No... no... stop please.. get off..." Maren was mumbling in her sleep, her eyebrows clenching down hard in almost pain.

Elsa realised the girl was having a nightmare and immediately crawled closer to her side, delicately placing Honeymaren's head in her lap and the girl's body in between her long pale legs. The least the blonde could do was comfort her.

"Please! Stop! I-I'll do anything, just please don't touch me and don't touch her!" Honeymaren's voice raised a few octaves as she began to shake, terrified of what she was encountering in her hellish dream. Her lips were quivering as she whimpered every few seconds.

Elsa looked down at her with concern and immediately brought her hand gently to the girls face. Her cold hand cupped the girls cheek from above perfectly. That was when Elsa realised Honeymaren was beginning to sweat, her face a boiling temperature. It was too hot of temperature for her liking.

"Honey, shhh it's okay love. I'm here Maren, Snowflake is here. I'm here. Elsa is here." Elsa stroked her thumb up and down the girls tanned cheek in an attempt to calm her. She even let Honeymaren's nickname for her slip from her tongue. Usually, she would have rolled her eyes at the name, but she had grown attached to it and decided to only let Maren call her that. Her and only her.

Then suddenly, Honeymaren's terrified shakes came to a harsh halt, almost making Elsa jump in surprise.

Only one word came from the brunette girls' lips after that. She kept smiling and saying it over and over again, snuggling deeper into Elsa's lap and body, wrapping her arms around the blonde spirit's waist awkwardly.

"Cold..."


	11. Dark Travels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elsa has an episode as demons slowly begin to consume her, and Honeymaren tells her three familiar words that make her heart flutter.

"Elsa? Elsa, where are you?"

The Fifth Spirit let out a groan as she felt her legs were stuck in a straight and laid out position, while she laid down on her back.

Rubbing her shining blue eyes, the blonde sat up with a slight yawn, only to realise that the reason her legs were the way they were was that Honeymaren was in between them, her head now resting comfortably on her left thigh as the tanned girl slept without a care in the world.

That's when Elsa's memory suddenly began ticking back into her mind. She almost felt guilty for being in the tent in general, especially when more of the same thoughts kept flooding into her mind once again.

'You shouldn't be in here, you caused this stupid mess.'

'You're nothing.'

The blonde physically shook her head and forced her demons back into the locked away parts of her brain. If she kept thinking like this, she would crumble into a worse state than when she first ran away from Arendelle.

"H-Here." Elsa croaked out groggily, realising that a voice had been calling her name worriedly.

It seemed to be still light outside, mostly from what the Fifth Spirit could see from the small crack in the tent anyway. That meant it was most likely very late in the afternoon, or a whole morning after. But Elsa doubted she could sleep for that long.

After a few seconds, sounds of ruffling leaves and rigid breaths interrupted Elsa's awkward silence. Her sister came rushing through the tent, letting out a sigh of relief at the sight of her older sister comforting her girlfriend.

"Have I ever told you that you two are incredibly adorable?" The redhead wanted to smirk but refrained from doing so when reality hit her at the sight of Honeymaren's bandages.

Elsa rolled her eyes playfully. "Yes, you've also teased me much more about.. dirty things, if anything." 

The blonde glanced down at Honeymaren's sleeping frame. The natural sunlight of the late afternoon seeped into the tent, making the tanned girls face practically glow with beauty. Her faint freckles were more outlined, and her muscles, even when bruised and cut, still seemed to expose themselves with every breath she took. Elsa had to refrain from staring at Maren's hard stomach.

"Well, I can't help it if my sister and her little girlfriend are really awkwardly terribly gay! Like, so awkward and gay it took both of you this long to be like this, and I technically insinuated it so, boom!" Anna whispered in a loud but hushed voice, aware that yelling it might cause a few passersby to listen in.

"Okay, okay I get it! Just be hush about it. I don't need all of Northuldra to know that the Fifth Spirit is an incredibly gay awkward goddess!"

Anna refrained a giggle, making her snort a bit too obnoxiously loud. "Well, a lot of people in the forest already assume you're in love with Honeymaren anyways. You practically give her love-struck eyes all the time, it's sickening." The shorter girl pinched her nose in exaggeration. 

Elsa's brows raised amusingly as her mouth slightly opened. "Excuse me, I had to endure much worse when you and Kristoff started dating. You two were and still are just as worse."

That statement made Anna quiet for a few moments.

"I guess you are right," Anna half-heartedly agreed. "But anyway, how is she holding up?" Anna questioned, gesturing towards Honeymaren, "I came in here to check on you two, considering you were gone for a very long time. Also, Ryder is still badly beaten up but for some reason wanted to help with making a big feast for everyone."

The two girls laughed behind their hands quietly at the mention of a bandaged Ryder, mixed with his already natural clumsiness, trying to cook up a feast for over a hundred people.

"I would love to see him try to do it all by himself, poor boy would probably fall on his face," Elsa began, shaking her head in an amused manner, "However, tell them I won't be attending dinner, I'm not that hungry and will just have whatever is left tomorrow. I want to be there when Maren wakes up."

Anna nodded understandingly and began looking down at the floor awkwardly, realising the conversation was about to end.

"I guess I will see you in the morning, then. If you want to know, sunset is in about an hour so it's around six-thirty in the afternoon. Have a good sleep, Elsie."

A small smile etched at the corner of Elsa's lips, it barely managed to reach her eyes but it was more than enough for Anna. The redhead was constantly worried for her older sister.

They then exchanged in a quick embrace, and Anna quickly dispersed back into the outside world like anyone else usually did.

\------

"E-Elsa?"

The Fifth Spirit quickly snapped out of her half-sleeping daze, not being bothered by the fact it took her practically hours to even get comfortable without being invaded by thoughts.

She was awake! Honeymaren was awake!

"Hey Honeybear, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Elsa asked in a low and gentle tone, care deeply showing through her voice.

The brunette groaned and mumbled incoherent sentences to herself, snuggling further into Elsa by lightly pushing her entirely on her back once more to climb up into the crook of the girl's neck.

When the blonde felt her girlfriend's breath against her skin, a shiver ran through her veins like a lightning strike. It was fast but thrilling.

"Five more minutes, please. So tired." Honeymaren mumbled, throwing her arms around and near Elsa's neck with a pained groan.

The blonde chuckled and put her arms around her waist protectively. Honeymaren was quite literally her baby girl and Elsa wanted to save her till her last breath.

"Can you at least tell me if the pain is too much still?"

A few seconds of silence. Not a word spoke from either girl. That was until a light snore filled the air and it seemed Honeymaren had fallen back asleep.

"H-Honey?" Elsa whispered in disbelief. Even if she was a doozy from being injured, she still wouldn't mope around like that.

"Nothing hurts when I'm with you Elsa, only my aching heart that loves you too much to tell you how strong my feelings are." Honeymaren mumbled without thinking about what had come from her mouth.

Elsa's eyes widened at the statement. Honeymaren really loved her.

\------

'It's all your fault.'

'It's all your fault.'

'It's ALL YOUR FAULT!'

'It is all your-'

"Attention everyone!"

A speech awoke Elsa. It was very early in the morning, the sky was still a faded pink and red from the beautiful sunrise, and nature was still kicking into its routinely day. 

The blonde felt a sudden weight lifted from her, as Honeymaren wasn't there. It seemed the girl had gotten up for whatever reason, which was terribly bad, as she had just been stabbed the previous day.

Elsa had fallen asleep around an hour after Honeymaren had mumbled out her confessions to her in a half dozed state. The blonde kept repeating her girlfriend's words over and over in her head like she was rewinding time. Even the morning after, she still struggled to believe it.

The Fifth Spirit yawned and stretched out her limbs. Pulling her hair into a loose ponytail, Elsa managed to stumble tiredly out of the comfortable covers that were incredibly warm and furry. 

Elsa stuck her head out of the tent and peeked around a certain busy part of the village, and saw Anna standing on top of a makeshift wooden platform talking with a lot of expressions on her face. Next to her was Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, Ryder and Honeymaren. 

Honeymaren was there.

The brunette was wearing her usual Northuldra attire, except she seemed to be clutching onto her side as if she were in deep pain. Elsa could tell her girlfriend was pushing back the pain and trying to hide it for everyone else.

The blonde slowly crept towards the scene to join the crowd, as Anna continued to speak.

"We have discussed battle strategy for the dark magic, and have decided that half of our soldiers are to go from behind, and the other from the front to surprise them. There is rumoured to be a back entrance, and we need to take every chance we can get. If the rumour turns out to be false, the team going in from behind will just meet up with the others out of sight. It will be a few days travel with our numbers, so we will be stopping at Elsa's castle for rest by the end of the day."

The two kingdoms murmured agreements and discussions with each other, as Elsa manoeuvered and squeezed uncomfortably through the crowd of all ages. Her white dress swayed and blew in the light morning wind. 

"Today marks the day that Arendelle and the Northuldra fight together once more, together, by choice. There will be no betrayals today, only unity." Cheers echoed throughout everyone's ears at the same time the two Arendelle sisters made eye contact.

"What do you mean two teams of soldiers? Are we splitting up?" Elsa asked with furrowed brows, her gaze not breaking her sister as the redheaded girl lightly jumped off of the platform carelessly.

The crowd behind them began to disperse, as they wanted to start preparing, but also had witnessed the two sisters start to converse.

"Sadly, yes," Anna sighed, her tone dripping with slight guilt and sadness, "But I will see you on the other side I assure you. Plus, everyone will be together for the first day, up until the ice palace."

Elsa refrained a sudden cough and asked Anna a question. "You sure you will be alright? I worry for you so much, Anna. I love you too much to lose you." Worry escaped her words.

Anna smiled softly at her sister and gave her a small lasting hug. Whispering into her ear, the redhead stated, "I'll be fine Elsa. Besides, who would want to mess with us sisters?" 

That made them both giggle. And for the first time in a while, they merely looked at each other and enjoyed the moment, not thinking about the drastic future.

\------

Anna had started to lead everyone ahead on their journey, especially the Northuldra as they had barely been out of the forest.

Usually, Elsa would have led the charge with her sister, they were like two peas in a pod after all, but the blonde felt strange. Her chest was tighter and every single person she came across that had injured themselves in the battle, made her heart weakly ache for them. It was almost as she was blaming herself for practically everything that went wrong the day prior. 

This time, however, the Fifth Spirit chose to stick behind, with most of the Northuldra and slower people. She still was waiting for a few unprepared younglings, so chose to sit down on a nearby log seat.

Thump, thump, thump.

Why was her heart beating so loud?

"Get out of my head." Elsa groaned to herself, placing her head in her pale hands.

'Not until you admit you failed some of them.'

"N-No, I can't protect every single living being, it is just impossible. I-It's not my fault." Elsa began mumbling to herself, deciding to rest her back against the log seat instead. She only needed to wait out a few minutes. A few minutes and she could continue to push back everything again.

'Not until you admit what you did. You failed Honeymaren and you definitely failed Anna. She must've been so disappointed to find out you couldn't keep everyone alive. Those poor children you left behind, too.'

"N-No. The children are back at camp and are fine with the elders! No one is... NO ONE IS DISAPPOINTED IN ME! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

She was yelling to herself now. Luckily the blonde had chosen to isolate herself, or people probably would've called her crazy. 

Elsa put her knees up to her chest and held onto herself tightly, everything was becoming blurry now. She hadn't been this bad since Anna had frozen temporarily, and her doctor said that she wouldn't relive these things often when she had finally stopped having them long ago.

So why was this happening to her now? Now of all times?

Tears spilled out. The small droplets spilled out like a recently burst tap. It was as if she had been holding back for too long, and cracked under all of the demons.

'That's it, cry. Cry and be weak. Pathetic.'

The blonde quietly broke. She didn't have her sister, she didn't have her lover. She had no one to help her. She was all alone, stuck in her mind.

Quiet sobs escaped the blonde's lips. She couldn't help it. A mountain was caving in on her and she felt so light-headed to the point where it was like she was hallucinating. Elsa whimpered and sobbed and cried. 

Her shaking continued as her thoughts ran wild like a machine. Why was she so weak? Why did she have to be so weak and break down at a time like this?

"E-Elsa?"

A voice. A voice broke through her walls. It was weak, pained and curious, but Elsa could still not open her eyes.

"Elsa? What are you- SNOWFLAKE?"

Arms embraced her. The familiar scent of forest pines, reindeer fur and sweet berries filled her lungs. Her heart slowly began to steady out, but not completely. There was still a part of her hanging on, hanging on to false realities and expectations.

'You don't deserve her help, you hurt her, you made her-

"Elsa? Elsa listen to me okay? I'm here, I'm always here. Listen to my voice, hun. I'm here, Maren is here."

Honeymaren slowly rocked her back and forth as Elsa began to sob and sob and sob. She let it all out and finally realised that the arms that were holding her were warm. It made her feel warm.

"C-Can't breathe." Elsa hiccuped. Her sobs got quicker and quicker as she buried herself in Honeymaren's shoulder.

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm always going to be here. Let it all out, I love you."

And just like that her whole world stopped.

Elsa's heart felt as if it had weirdly stopped, in a good way. Like she had been told something that fairytales were made of. 

Her breathing began to slow back to normal again, and Honeymaren took notice of this.

"Y-You really love me?" Elsa stuttered, still whimpering and shaking, the occasional hiccup releasing from her body.

"Yes. I think I always have. And no matter if you love me back or not, I will still continue to be here."

Even with shaking hands, Elsa threw her arms around Honeymaren and somehow cried harder.

"D-Did I do something wrong? I-I'm so sorry-"

"NO! Sorry, n-no you didn't. I'm just so surprised that you would love me even after what I did and failed to do. I failed everyone, people got hurt because of me. So many people."

"Snowflake, please open your eyes." Honeymaren gently grabbed Elsa by the chin and waited for her to open her eyes. When Elsa finally did through rigid breaths, her baby blue pupils shone in the sunlight.

"You did not hurt me, you did not fail me and you certainly did not fail anyone else. You should've heard the things people were saying to you when I regained consciousness for a few minutes in my tent. All I could hear was how powerful, beautiful, strong and dedicated you are. You are a natural leader. Which if they were talking about my amazing girlfriend, and I'm pretty sure they were, then they are absolutely right."

Elsa shivered at the girl's words. She felt like a balloon about to burst from all the sudden happiness built within inside her.

"You really think so?" Elsa whispered with a small smile.

"I don't think so, I know so."

A few seconds of silence. Just the feeling of their breath against one another, the birds chirping, Gale running about and men beginning to finally pack their last items up.

"I love you Honeymaren. So much, Honey. I love you so so much. Thank you."

The tanned girl tenderly smiled at Elsa. The sparkle in her eyes would have been enough of a dead giveaway to tell anyone she was very deep under when it came to the Fifth Spirit.

She had never really known why Elsa had chosen her, a mere Northuldra girl, but all Honeymaren could do was kiss her and love her endlessly so she always knew how much she was loved. Seeing Elsa in the state she was was heartbreaking.

And with that, Honeymaren slowly connected them into a sweet kiss. They both released held in sighs once the soft contact was made.

Honeymaren tasted sweet, and Elsa savoured every taste she received. It was intoxicating but rewarding.

Their tongues gradually danced together like slow dancers, keeping a steady pace. Honeymaren won the dominance battle, making Elsa let out a low moan of content.

To Honeymaren, Elsa was the most beautiful person she had ever encountered. She was also certainly the best tasting. She tasted like vanilla and was of course cold.

Nothing could compare to the little moments like these. Even family game night was up for a challenge, as whenever the two girls touched, it was like electricity was dispersed.

It was truly electrifyingly beautiful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N, sorry for no updates! School is a fucking ass and my major emotions are back and clogging my usual creativity. I promise to try and update more!


	12. Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They arrive at the castle and Elsa and Honeymaren have an awkward but intimate moment together on the balcony.

You could almost feel the upcoming dread in the air. The sky was grey, cloudy and it seemed that rain was upon them in the far distance.

They had been travelling all day, with a few to no stops. A handful of the Arendelle soldiers could be heard groaning about their aching feet and tired shoulders. Compared to the Northuldra, it seemed they were completely fine with continuing, however, probably because most of them were on reindeer.

It was like a perfectly timed heaven when Elsa's castle then came into view, a few people immediately sighed at the sight of the halfway stop.

Elsa gripped her reindeer's reins tightly and leaned over to Honeymaren, who rode next to her on her own separate reindeer. "Riding on something other than the Water Nokk feels strange, but I'm not going to lie I was getting attached to this little buddy." The animal under her looked up at her with a small smile, almost as if they understood every word and were appreciative.

"Yeah, and riding on your water horse for me was freaking terrifying! A liquid horse for crying out loud, you ride a liquid ice horse!"

The two girls giggled as Elsa began riding more quickly towards the front. She needed to be the first one to open the door first as Marshmallow wasn't exactly the most friendly towards strangers. But as they started getting higher and higher, strange things began to appear on the ground.

Silence overtook them when it was first noticed, the darkness.

The grass was grey, and the snow looked more like ash. It reminded the two Arendelle sisters of the Nattmara outbreak, but twice as worse.

"Anna, are you seeing this? Everything around here is just.... dead and black." Elsa whispered in her sister's direction as she approached the front, her brows furrowed in concern. Honeymaren trailed behind them, looking at the evil mountains around her with awe, her mouth slightly gaped open.

"Yeah I'm seeing this, I'm pretty sure everyone is by the looks of it. This is bad, but why hasn't it affected the castle?"

"Maybe because Elsa is the Fifth Spirit, she's balanced, pure and her ice can fight back this evil magic." Honeymaren butted in, deciding to ride beside the two siblings.

Anna nodded in agreement, slowing to a stop at the sight of all too familiar ice stairs.

The redheaded queen jumped off her reindeer and walked over to Kristoff, interlocking her arm with his. "Everyone, the reindeer are going to be tied down here for a night as they can't climb up the stairs. Trust me, we've already tried. Also, do NOT touch the infected plants. We don't know the effects that may occur." Anna refrained a giggle at the memory of Sven slipping and sliding around on the perfectly structured ice like a careless toddler. 

The crowd all hummed their own responses and headed single file up the stairs, lead by Elsa who was already at the top with Honeymaren and Olaf.

When the last of the Northuldra tied up their reindeer, sneaking in a few carrots simultaneously, Anna led them to the bottom of the entrance, that was already too full to fit more people.

Giving her powerful sister a small nod, Elsa took the hint and knocked an all too familiar tune on the door, making a misty aura overcome every one.

After a few seconds of nothingness, the door creaked open with a slight screech, the perfectly sculpted ice not even scratching from the content.

"Who goes there?" It was Marshmallow, his cautious tone boomed over the land as he spoke. Everyone seemed to gulp simultaneously out of fear, apart from Olaf, Elsa, Anna and Kristoff of course.

"Hey Marshmallow is it okay if we stay the night? I've got quite a few soldiers that need immediate rest."

The giant snow monster peeked over to the bottom of the stairs where a large crowd stood, eagerly but cautiously awaiting to be let in for rest inside the ice paradise. His ice spikes that poked out of different parts of his body slowly shrunk in. Marshmallow then backed into the castle and spoke one last time. "You may, however just be careful of the snowgies, they're very hyper today."

Anna gave him a kind smile from the bottom of the stairs and refrained a giggle, looking back at the crowd. "You heard Marshmallow, let's all get moving! We need as much rest as we can gather."

It seemed every person that passed the snow guard had anxious looks on their faces. They weren't terrified of Marshmallow perse, just anxious to what he could do.

Olaf could be seen trying to converse with the huge monster as the crowd stacked into the ice palace, excitedly explaining some type of event to Marshmallow. The huge snowman merely nodded his head along to the smaller one's story.

Honeymaren suddenly snorted and had to cover her mouth. That was when Elsa noticed the tanned girl was redder than a rose. 

"What's so funny?" The blonde queried with a small teasing smile.

"It's j-just, you make this terrifying bodyguard, and name i-it Marshmallow!" Honeymaren began laughing to herself, noises erupting from her stomach. It was a deep and honest laugh.

Elsa refrained from giving her girlfriend a lovestruck face at the sound of her heavenly laughter, and instead playfully hit her shoulder and pushed her inside.

That's when Honeymaren's laughter was replaced with one loud gasp.

"Wait wait wait, so when you were having that strange 'Let It Go' phase, you made this?"

Elsa playfully rolled her eyes. "Yes, I made this all with ease. Sometimes I can't even begin to comprehend how I did it without even thinking."

"Have more mid-life crisis situations please, these structures are beautifully crafted," Honeymaren whispered to herself, her small fingertips lightly grazing the frozen fountain upon her.

"You haven't even seen the best part," Elsa commented with a giddy smile, taking the girl's hand unexpectedly, leading Maren clumsily up the stairs.

Ryder watched the two girls disappear upstairs from in the middle of the crowd, gripping his handmade clutches tightly.

"They're the loveliest couple I've ever seen to exist. If only they realised how deep their true feelings were."

A weird tickling feeling then overcame Ryder as he held back a laugh. It seemed a snowgie had climbed onto the top of his head.

"Oh, why hello there little guy, what's your name?" The brunet giggled, wiggling his finger up at the small snow creature. 

\------

"This is- this is just, wow." 

It took a lot of begging, with the limited amount of space to share, but Elsa thankfully managed to convince Anna to give her and Honeymaren the balcony to themselves. It was all worth it when Honeymaren's eyes shone under the setting sun.

After a few hours of explaining where and what everything was, the two girls had finally settled down after having an eventful interaction with some snowgies.

"It's quite the site isn't it?" Elsa said in a soft tone, her elbows propped on the rail, glancing out at the view of the dark mountains, then back to her girlfriend.

"Yeah, even with all the darkness spreading, it's still so.... beautiful." Honeymaren gaped, seeing that a sliver of sunlight had escaped the clouds and landed almost perfectly on her face.

"Yeah..... so beautiful," Elsa mumbled to herself, staring lovingly at Honeymaren's side profile.

The tanned girl turned to Elsa with an amused face. "You weren't talking about the view, were you?"

"Well, technically I still was as you are quite the view, Honey." Honeymaren turned a light shade of pink and hid her face shyly in her thick fur jacket.

"You cold? Or are you just naturally that red?" Elsa quirked with a raised brow, teasing the girl playfully. She also had only begun to realise Honeymaren's full attire, and that she was practically making them sleep outside during the winter.

"No, it's fine. I've been in much colder conditions, and plus the Fifth Spirit is my girlfriend, so if I was too cold that would be a bit strange." Honeymaren gave Elsa a goofy smile and scrunched her nose playfully.

That was when the blonde suddenly struggled to talk. Elsa's heart did backflips as she suddenly felt as if she was having a stroke. "I-I-uh-"

Maren noticed how flustered Elsa got at her actions, and scrunched her nose again, causing Elsa's eyes to widen.

The tanned girl awed silently at the reaction and sighed contently.

"This is why I love you, you're adorable," Honeymaren whined slightly, wrapping her arms around Elsa with a wide smile.

"If only you saw yourself, Honey," Elsa commented, kissing her girlfriend's lips lightly.

Once they pulled apart from each other, the sun had sadly fully set, making the lantern next to their makeshift fur bed the only light source. 

"I'm just going to change into nightclothes if that's okay?" Honeymaren asked with a cautious tone, wiggling her pointer fingers around.

Elsa smiled understandingly at her and turned around. "Yeah, you can change. I'll change too."

With a few flicks of her wrist, and twirl of her fingers, Elsa's iconic white dress evaporated, turning into a light and flowy nightgown. It was bright white, with a bright blue crystal pattern accompanying it, that just grazed her mid-thigh area.

Turning around, Elsa realised that Honeymaren was still trying to put on her shirt. The tanned girl only had on her baggy dark brown pants, and strapping that occupied as a bra. Her upper body muscles were on full display, and Elsa was suddenly aching to touch every inch.

"Like what you see?" Honeymaren smirked, looking over her shoulder with a knowing expression. Elsa awkwardly looked down, mumbling dozens upon dozens of profanities and apologies. 

All the blonde could hear after her embarrassment of a sentence was the faint sound of steps coming towards her, and the ridiculously loud sound of her thumping heart.

Her chin was grabbed lightly, making her face look upward again. Honeymaren stared her directly in the eyes.

"My back is killing me, especially from all the bruises. Could you maybe... massage it?"

If Elsa's heartbeat couldn't get any more uneven, the blonde was immediately proven wrong by her girlfriend's proposal. The Fifth Spirit choked on her own spit.

Honeymaren knew what she was doing. She just had too. Elsa was a sweating nervous wreck. 

"Y-You want a massage?" The blonde couldn't really tell if Honeymaren was being serious, but seeing the way the tanned girl rubbed her sides in pain, the spirit realised she was actually needing one.

"Yeah, is that okay?" Honeymaren dragged out, cautiously awaiting Elsa's reaction.

After a few silent seconds, Elsa realised the sudden tension and began to stutter out a mess of words. "Oh! U-Um yeah, I'm okay with it! I just wasn't expecting the proposal is all!"

Honeymaren smirked slightly from the corner of her mouth. "Good girl. I'll tell you when I'm comfy. Until then you can just relax, your shoulders are tenser than an Earth Giant."

Elsa got even more embarrassed and flustered than she was before and immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, leaning up against the ice door of the balcony, awkwardly playing with her hands and loosening her shoulders. 

'Was she really that much of a flustered wreck that she couldn't even stand normally?'

The blonde forced herself to take a huge deep breath in and out. It was just a massage, after all, it wasn't like they were-

"I'm ready Snowflake."

Elsa looked up from her lap to see Honeymaren patiently laying on her stomach, using her now tossed fur jacket as a makeshift pillow.

The blonde refrained a giggle at a slight realisation. "Um, Maren, isn't that floor a bit too cold on your stomach?"

The shorter girl merely smacked her lips together and closed her eyes, resting her head on top of her arms that were crossed over each other. "In all honesty, yes, but it feels nice on my wounds."

Elsa nodded and leant down onto her knees, on the right side of Honeymaren. "W-Well if you really are serious about this massage thing, where do you want to be.... loosened up most?" The blonde cringed at her use of words.

Honeymaren chuckled quietly, obviously hearing the poorly worded sentence that Elsa created. "Well, for one, you're going to have to get closer. And two, mostly my back and shoulders. Try to refrain from going near my stab bandage, though."

The blonde spirit flushed nervously and awkwardly scooted over closer to her girlfriend. Deciding to wing it, Elsa straddled the girl's upper thighs and cracked her knuckles in preparation.

"Are you preparing to beat me up or something?" Honeymaren commented over her shoulder jokingly with a breathy laugh, seeing Elsa's sudden shakiness.

"What? N-No I just crack my knuckles a lot, sorry."

Elsa then took a few moments to merely just study Maren. The blonde had never in her life been overly self-conscious, but looking at her girlfriend made a sudden jealous lust overcome her.

Honeymaren was well built, terribly well built. 

Elsa started on her toned shoulders, kneading and gently pushing when needed. She felt the girl's hard muscles from merely a soft touch, it sent a thrill throughout her body.

A sudden throaty sound erupted from Honeymaren's mouth. Elsa immediately froze at the raspy sound.

"S-Sorry. That just felt nice." Maren lamely commented with a slightly red face, closing her eyes once more and hiding her face in her jacket.

The blonde spirit gulped loudly and shook her head. "It's okay. You can make noises you know, you are sort of bruised and in pain." That comment made them both chuckle.

"Well, that is why I asked for a massage in the first place, Snowflake."

Elsa moved to the girl's shoulder blades. With every movement Honeymaren made, Elsa could feel her muscles and bones twitch. 

Honeymaren sighed out of content when she felt Elsa's cold hands against her skin. She really did need a massage as her back parts were killing her, but it was also a beautiful excuse to get her girlfriend out of her comfort zone.

"Where and when did you learn how to massage like this? You're like a damn healer with magic hands." Honeymaren commented with a small moan. She would definitely feel better after this.

"Well, I do technically already have magic hands, and I also never really learnt it as a full-on activity. It's just when Anna and I were kids we just used to play a lot and one time we pretended we were massage salon people, it was quite funny." Elsa giggled, remembering when Anna had practically broken their father's back doing a 'karate chop' move.

Honeymaren scoffed amusingly, shaking her head with a smile. Sometimes she forgot that Elsa had a goofy, laidback childhood before everything went to hell for the two siblings. It pained the tanned girl to think about how horrible Elsa's teen years must have been, locked away all alone.

Elsa's hands then began to wander all over Honeymaren's exposed back, going back to work. Her cold fingertips made the shorter girl under her shiver with pleasure. When the blonde moved her hands to the girl's sides, it seemed Honeymaren's short-lived moans got more and more frequent.

The blonde had to bite her lip terribly hard to refrain from groaning at the noises, almost drawing blood. An unfamiliar pleasure shocked the spirit, especially in her lower areas. It made Elsa want to squeeze her thighs together to stop the new sensation.

"That's it...." Honeymaren moaned to herself, sighing contently into her arms.

Elsa bit her lip, hiding a cheeky smile. After realising she had done all of Honeymaren's back, her eyes couldn't stop flashing with lust, with pure want.

Pale hands slid down her sides, then back up again. It seemed a slight build of sweat had appeared on Honeymaren's skin.

Pale hands then slid up her shoulder blades, then up and down her arms, then back down again. Honeymaren's eyes slightly opened at the contact. She wasn't getting a massage anymore.

Pale hands slid down to her bra wrapping, then under the soft material, feeling every inch of skin underneath there. Honeymaren's mouth was left slightly agape at the sudden boldness.

Elsa then put her hands on either side of Honeymaren's head and leant down, her face inches away from her girlfriend's. Maren had her head turned slightly to the right to glance at the blonde goddess.

The Fifth Spirit gently nibbled at Honeymaren's ear, then began leaving a trail of kisses down her neck, then down her back.

"E-Elsa, what're you doing?" Honey stuttered, refraining in making any too loud noises.

"Loosening you up. We both need to 'relax', remember? You said it yourself." The blonde queried, sitting up again, still straddling her girlfriend.

"Well, in that case," Honeymaren smirked and turned so she was on her back, in a less awkward position, "I think I'll need to be a bit more comfortable. That's better I think." The Northuldran girl suddenly gripped a fistful of Elsa's nightgown, pulling her in for a hungry kiss, catching the blonde off guard.

Elsa let Honeymaren lead the kiss, still not being the most experienced, but still let the shorter girl know who was on top, grinding their hips together sensually. The friction caused them both to moan quietly.

When Honeymaren broke the kiss for breath, Elsa took the opportunity to grab the girl by her shoulders and push her down gently. Honeymaren raised an eyebrow at the action, but immediately let the occurrence happen after she felt Elsa's lips attach to her neck.

Elsa kept wondering to herself rather or not to mark Honeymaren. It would be quite obvious if she did, but if she didn't it probably would drive her mad.

The blonde spirit trailed light kisses down Honeymaren's upper chest and stopped just above her cleavage. Taking a quick breath of air, Elsa bit down gently on the toned skin, leaving marking after marking.

"E-Elsa, shit." Honeymaren groaned out of pleasure, seeing the markings appear mere seconds after.

When Elsa was done marking her girlfriend, she sat up, an almost innocent expression appearing on her face. "I had to, it was driving me insane." The blonde practically growled. The sound made Maren's head fuzzy.

"I can see that," Honeymaren chuckled, seeing the plethora of dark markings on her upper chest, "And who said you could get all confident on me, big girl? I think it's only fair to even the playing field."

Just as quick as it had appeared, Elsa's sudden confidence had evaporated, feeling hot and bothered underneath Honeymaren's exposed upper half. The darker girl had flipped them around.

"If you feel too nervous or feel like your magic is about to happen, just tell me okay, Snowflake?" Honeymaren said with a soft tone, sending her a charming toothy smile.

Elsa's head spun at the appearance, barely managing to send her a nod as her girlfriend pulled her into another kiss.

This time they battled for dominance. It seemed Elsa was desperate to get back her confidence, but Honeymaren's mere presence was intimidating enough to make her crumble. The shorter girl won their tongue battle, immediately pushing Elsa roughly down onto the ground.

Before they could both even breathe again, Honeymaren hungrily started peppering Elsa's jaw and neckline with soft kisses, teasing the blonde girl.

The spirit could feel her magic beginning to defy her, but didn't want to say anything. The pleasure was too immense, good and new for her to let go of.

A breathy moan escaped Elsa as she felt Honeymaren's hands run down her sides, feeling the girls curves.

"You're truly a piece of artwork, aren't you?" Honeymaren growled with a small chuckle, beginning to nibble on Elsa's collarbone.

"M-Maren." Elsa gasped, her brows furrowing. The tanned girl hovering above her held her waist steadily, beginning to leave her markings on Elsa's pale skin.

As Honeymaren began to lower herself down Elsa, she came across a problem. "This clothing is very... in the way."

Elsa took the hint, wavering her right hand so the clothing evaporated. This left her in nothing but a bra and underwear.

Honeymaren then pulled back from Elsa to study her for a few seconds. She was in awe at the sight of the goddess's perfection. 

Elsa began to feel a bit self-conscious at the staring. "U-Um, I don't feel the most... pretty right now. Especially since you're on top of me, of all people."

"Snowflake," Honeymaren breathe, shaking her head in disbelief, lantern light shining against her body, "You're beautiful."

The tanned girl gently pressed her fingers against Elsa's abdomen. The spirit wasn't as fit as she was -considering she was trained to be a warrior- but the girl was still toned and perfect in all places.

"How did I get so lucky?" Honeymaren mumbled to herself, trailing kisses up Elsa's pale lower stomach, then back up to her chest.

When Honeymaren began to grip Elsa's left breast gently, the blonde felt herself moaning lowly once more, and she couldn't help but release a small portion at magic. 

Honeymaren yelped at the sight behind her. It seemed a huge ice spike had been released from Elsa's fingertips. 

A few awkward seconds of silence came upon them as Honeymaren merely stared at Elsa.

"U-Um... yeah... sometimes I forget about that.." Elsa said with an embarrassed hiss, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

After a few more seconds, loud laughter filled the air. Honeymaren was giggling to herself like a mad man.

"What's so funny?" Elsa pouted, pushing out her bottom lip in a cute manner. 

"Nothing, nothing," Honeymaren chuckled, grabbing a stray blanket and laying down next to Elsa, "You're just cute."

Elsa's cheeks flushed at the comment. "That is not cute at all! It's a nuisance!" The blonde whined like a small child, snuggling into Honeymaren's chest.

"Oh, so you wanted to continue so badly, huh? We can if you want" Honeymaren teased with an amused grin, rubbing her left hand affectionately up and down Elsa's back.

The Fifth Spirit's eyes widened at the comment. "What? N-No I didn't, well maybe I did just not- Honey!"

Honeymaren merely stared at the beauty underneath her. A mix of haunting moonlight and warm candlelight made Elsa's face glow even more than it usually did. The blonde looked so perfect the tanned girl kept asking herself if Elsa was even real.

"I really need to learn how to control my powers." Elsa groaned into Honeymaren's collarbone, throwing an arm around her torso.

"I was just teasing you, Snowflake. We'll do it when we're ready, there's no rush. You should get some rest, you need it for tomorrow." Maren ran her fingers slowly through Elsa's platinum locks, soothing the girl's scalp.

"You... you need rest.... too..." And just like that, Elsa had fallen asleep. 

It may have been cold. They may have been sleeping on a balcony with minimal clothing on during a very cold time, but that didn't matter to the girls. 

Their company was enough to keep each other warm.

"How are you so perfect?" Honeymaren mumbled to herself, gesturing towards her powerful girlfriend, finally letting sleep overcome her.


	13. Grandfather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They arrive at the mysterious place beyond the mountains and are met with a wall, a church and an evil man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's been a while jbg;aksbgabf;

Sun had barely grazed over the landscape when Honeymaren's peaceful sleep was harshly interrupted. A loud knocking on the balcony door startled her, making her jolt straight up under her blankets.

Rubbing her eyes, the brunette realised Elsa was no longer in her arms. "Snowflake?" She whispered tiredly with a yawn, stretching out her limbs. Today was a big today, one of the biggest of their lives, even, Honeymaren just knew that subconsciously.

"Hello? If anyone's out there, Queen Anna has ordered us all to wake early. We must head for the mountains at once." It seemed one of Arendelle's guards had awoken to convey a message to everyone.

Honeymaren pondered for a moment and guessed she would most likely find her girlfriend somewhere in the castle with Anna. The two were inseparable sisters, after all.

The landscape of darkness had seemed to had spread faster than a virus overnight. Trees were hunched over and drained like sultanas and even the normal wildlife seemed to have dulled, their usual morning cries now a quiet whisper.

"Hey, Maren!" A voice called out to Honeymaren as soon as she had reached the top of the glistening ice stairs. The brunette was still desperately trying to tug her arm through one of the sleeves of her fur jacket arms.

Through the almost clear glaze walls, Honeymaren could spot her brother sitting on the edge of the frozen fountain. The taller boy waved her over excitedly, his usual chirpy grin plastered on his dark face.

As Maren scurried down the perfectly sculpted stairs, she only began to truly realise how crowded the castle was. Some people were even camping on the bottom of the staircase, not preferring to be cramped between dozens of people

With one last heave, squeezing in between two older teenage Northuldran people that didn't even seem to notice her, Honeymaren made it to her brother.

"Hey, big bro! How're you doing?" The tan girl asked curiously, concern shining through in her tone. It seemed Ryder would be able to walk without crutches during the day for a period of time, even though dozens of his bruises were still visible and healing.

"Maren, I have just been taking it day by day, and honestly I have just been appreciating how amazing this castle looks and just how nature looks, even though the mountains are infected. I'm just studying every little thing about the world just in case bad things happen today."

"What kind of bad things?" Honeymaren held an almost pout at Ryder's comment, his words concerned her.

"I don't know, just... casualties."

Ryder did not need to explain into any more detail, as Honeymaren began to realise what he truly meant.

"None of us are dying today, reindeer boy. We have a kind-hearted queen and beautifully-powered spirit leading us to victory, we will be completely fine." Honeymaren tried to reassure her older brother, looking down at him as he sat, putting her hand delicately on his shoulder.

A sudden commotion caused the two siblings to turn around, only to find Elsa and Anna walking towards the direction of the stairs. They were about to announce something.

"Look! There's your hot girlfriend." Ryder exclaimed plainly with a goofy smile on his face, speaking up and pointing towards Elsa's direction.

"Hey! She's not my girl- ugh! Is it that obvious?" Honeymaren whined like a small child, slouching her shoulders in defeat.

Ryder hissed in a breath and slowly nodded his head up and down in a teasing manner, "Sadly, yes. You two practically look at each other like lovesick puppies, it's gross." The taller boy faked a gag, pinching his nose with his fingers.

Honeymaren rolled her eyes and turned back to look at Elsa. She could see even from a distance that the blonde was visibly tense and nervous. After the recent breakdown Elsa had, it seemed the spirit became more nervous and embarrassed to do public speaking.

But this time, the blonde was going to speak, and she was going to speak loud. She was going to make sure her message got through to everyone, and that everyone put everything they had into that day.

"Everyone, quiet down please," Kristoff yelled a little too loudly, awkwardly retreating next to Anna after speaking.

"Thank you, Kristoff," Anna began, kissing her husband on the cheek, "Everyone, today I want you all to know that what we are about to face is dangerous. What we are about to do is life-threatening and for each and every one of you to still stand up to volunteer for this is incredible. I, personally, from the bottom of my heart, wholeheartedly thank all of you. Every single person. You are all heroes, you are all warriors, you are all family."

The crowd cheered at Anna's speech. They were still adjusting to the new queen, her coronation only being a few months prior, but the townspeople were delighted to have her as their ruler. Her goofy smile made everyone, even in the darkest hour, feel that slight piece of hope that pushes people over the finish line in races, and past their limits to test themselves.

"Now, as Anna said, this mission is incredibly dangerous, incredibly long and incredibly tiring. However, we do have a plan," Elsa began, her soft but serious tone booming throughout the castle walls, "And that plan is for our two groups to come from the most north side and from the most south side. My group, led by also Honeymaren, a noble Northuldran warrior and... a friend of mine, will be coming from the south side. That is the front entrance. From outside intel, we have also been informed of a very tiny and risky back entrance. This is where Anna and Kristoff's side comes in on the most north side, by the cliffs."

As Elsa pause to breathe and look around at the crowded castle, she locked eyes with Honeymaren from across the room for the briefest of seconds. It may have been barely even a look, but it was enough for both of their hearts to erupt with reassurance and love.

"Now, I wanna know this, who is ready to ride out and protect the land?" The Fifth Spirit's voice raised slightly as her confidence grew for every word she spoke. A plethora of praises, cheers and agreements echoed through the blonde's ears as her nerves of public embarrassment settled.

"Then let us go, I'll be calling the water nokk," Elsa muttered to herself, smirking. With one ripping motion, her hair tie was sent flying to the floor, letting her hair run freely. Then, with a small flick of her left wrist, her once comfy winter clothes were replaced with the ones of Ahtohallan. This was a warrior spirit's outfit.

\------

It was cold, dark and damp. Every step felt exaggerated, tiring and relentless. The silence did not help either, it was almost deafening to not hear any noise at all.

The wall that stood before them was at least ten metres tall, carefully hidden away as a part of the cliffside by the mountains. The mould that crawled all over the stone wept into their noses as the hanging vines swung lifelessly in the dead wind.

The was only one problem, however, there was seemingly no entrance to inside the vile place.

"Elsa, what now?" Mattias questioned from behind her, awkwardly scratching at his beard nervously. It had become a habit of his to scratch his stubble.

The blonde's eyes furrowed out of confusion at the seemingly blank wall. 

"Well, the vines are too thin and old to climb and the stones are very dangerous...." Before the Fifth Spirit could get another word in, as soon as her fingertips mindlessly touched the stones, a bright glow emerged from them unexpectedly. They all moved in one motion, creating a large arch doorway.

"Well, I guess that works, too." The snow queen half-heartedly muttered to herself, shaking her head in amusement, gripping tightly at the solid water reins of the water spirit.

When the glowing stopped, an eery silence overcame the group. Elsa only prayed that Anna also made it through.

"Are you sure it is wise to go first, my lady?" A guard asked nervously behind the blonde. He seemed concerned for the spirit.

"I'll be okay, Henry, thank you for your concern." The Fifth Spirit plainly responded, already striding cautiously inside of the walls.

It seemed the front entrance was attached to the inside of a cave and the ending of the hallway lead to a large open area of space. It seemed too.... spacious and quiet.

"Everyone, be on guard," Honeymaren commanded from beside Elsa. She had attached a few extra layers of thick leather to her outfit for protection on the way there, and the tan girl couldn't lie, even she herself knew it looked attractive.

"H-Hello?" A weak voice called out from inside the darkness around them. Mattias shakily lit a torch, illuminating the walls around them, only to reveal small prison-like cages.

"Who's there?" Elsa commanded, raising her right hand slightly, ready to defend herself.

"P-Please help, help all of us!" Murmurs began to come from each of the cages. Elsa turned to the right, in the direction of the louder voice. The closer she rode over to the cages, the more she realised just how tiny they were.

There were trolls inside of them, trapped like birds.

"Trolls? What're they doing here?" Elsa asked herself quietly, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"H-He's gone mad. Mad I say, very mad!" The blonde girl found the owner of the voice that called out to her. It seemed this troll was merely a child, between a toddler and teenager.

"What you mean he's gone mad?" Elsa queried with a slightly tilted head, her hands loosely letting go of her water horse's reins.

"He experimented with dark spirits, he w-went to far! He accepted an offer and he went mad! Get out of here while you still can, he'll be going after you, Queen Elsa!" The child began sobbing quietly, putting their head in their stone hands. It seemed to be a boy, his wide, but small green eyes shone brightly under the torchlight.

"Hey, don't worry about me. I'll be making sure you get out of here safely and whoever this mystery person is, is taken care of." Elsa's soft tone seemed to reassure the boy troll enough to stop crying, the occasional hiccup still projecting from his mouth.

Honeymaren threw Elsa a concerned glance from beside her. Who would be after her girlfriend so eagerly?

"T-Thank you, you are all heroes."

With that, they all set off down the rest of the cave. It seemed this cave would have once been a sleeping type of area, but was twisted in an evil prison.

What awaited the army outside was dark, menacing trees that towered over them like monsters towering over the beds of little kids.

In the middle of the grass courtyard was a singular building. It looked recently built and was on the smaller side. It reminded Elsa of a church.

The Fifth Spirit slipped off the water nokk, slowly creeping towards the church-like structure. She glanced to the right to see Anna's group arriving through the back entrance, next to the gaping cliffside. It was a dangerous route to enter in, but it seemed to of worked.

"All this stealth seems pointless now, it's weird no one is... out here," Honeymaren explained to herself with a confused hum.

Elsa nodded in agreement, raising her voice slightly to get her point across the small crowd.

"Everyone, be on guard, Honeymaren and I will be checking out this building. If were are not out soon, I suggest coming after us, just in case." The blonde explained, giving a slight nod to Mattias. The man seemed to of understood and nodded back, concern and dedication shining in his old, tired eyes.

With a slight gulp, Honeymaren pushed open the large, gaping doors with a slight push, leaving a small enough gap for her and Elsa to slip through. The tanned girl gripped her spear tightly with her small, thin fingers, feeling an uncertain feeling in her stomach. 

Very few torches hung on the wooden, rotted walls. The aura illuminated a dark, gloomy and dusted feeling. Large, stained glass windows accompanied the old building. A sudden wave of sadness seemed to wash over the two girls.

That wave only grew as they saw what was at the end of the room. Past the church pews, right in front of where the altar was, sat a singular throne. Next to that throne were two small, elderly trolls on either side of it. Their short, freckled legs were chained together and to a nearby wall, to make sure they couldn't escape, and their aching feet were covered in all types of dirt imaginable.

"I see you had the audacity to join us."

Elsa flinched at the voice. It sounded almost familiar to her, it sounded dark, like a monster of pure evil, a voice that was once pure. It was like she had heard it in her dreams.

The blonde spirit protectively jumped out in front of Honeymaren, holding up her hands strategically, mist already coming out from her fingertips.

"Who are you?" Elsa hissed, impatiently awaiting an answer.

"Hmm, impatient are we? Well, it is not about who I am, it is more like... what I am. I was once a mere single being, but I found power. I found peace. I found... the spirit."

The hunched figure on the throne leaned forward into the light. Their eyes were a glowing purple, steam emitting and leaking from their pupils. The once green fabric this man wore, was torn and black around the edges. Their grey skin, now stained red, purple and an ash grey.

It was Pabbie. Grandfather Pabbie.

"You know, in the beginning, I was so proud of you, Elsa. You accomplished so much, even when I banished you for more than ten years, to hide and be ashamed of your powers. When you became the Fifth Spirit, I was thrilled, but then I came to discover one day there was another, the Sixth Spirit," Pabbie hopped off of the large royal chair, grabbing his walking stick, roaming around the place and nearing towards them, "This being had been locked away, even the Devil did not want this entity. But I did, for a price. I was willing to do anything to study and learn everything I could. However, in the end, I realised I could be much more powerful than anybody in this world, for the right price. For example, a soul for a soul. My soul has already merged and become one with it, but I must sacrifice another for true dominance. How lucky am I that you're here?"

A smirk slowly appeared across Pabbie's face as Elsa's terrified expression began to only worsen as she realised what was happening.

With all of her strength, the blonde girl threw her arm forward, sending an incredible blast of ice merely inches away from Honeymaren's face, who had seemed to of absentmindedly wondered a few metres away from her. At the same time, Pabbie troll reached inside his cloak and sent a large violet beam towards Honeymaren. It seemed Elsa's ice struggled against this power, barely lasting against a mere drop of it.

"Honey, RUN!" Elsa screamed, blasting shoots of ice in Pabbie's direction, being careful to not hit the enslaved trolls. The tanned girl reluctantly looked at her girlfriend.

"I'm not leaving until you do!"

Elsa annoyingly rolled her eyes at her partner. "If we weren't about to be demolished by this power right now, I probably would have said that was adorable!" 

When Pabbie ran out of energy for merely a second or two, Elsa saw a chance. It was slim, but still a chance. Pabbie's head then began to jerk psychotically, being thrown back in forth. His legs hovered above the ground as more power began rushing through him. It seemed he was only getting started.

"NOW CAN WE RUN?"

Honeymaren nodded aggressively in agreement, pure fear in her eyes. She rarely got scared. "Yes!"

It felt like time itself was stopping as they ran, Elsa's legs strode out so long that you would think she were a spider.

Each metre they took felt like a hundred miles. So when they finally did reach the heavenly gate that hovered over them like ghosts, they could barely even see or think straight.

Elsa's hand desperately gripped onto the handle of the wooden door, but before she could yank it open with force, an ear-piercing scream filled her aching cochlea.

"ELSA! SHIT, HELP ME!" The blonde frantically turned around to see Honeymaren being taken away by strange floating monsters. They reminded her of ghouls, however, these ghouls had no legs and just floated menacingly in the air like ghosts. They were the same colour as Pabbie's eyes. One of them had grabbed her love, and she was pissed.

"MAREN! HOLD ON!" Elsa's voice cracked as she frantically screamed, shooting ice at the now smirking creature. 

"Give. Her. BACK." She commanded. The blonde's chest was puffing up and down wildly.

"She's mine now, child. You'll have to come to me, to get her." Pabbie's voice boomed, as his powerful laugh, that once sounded innocent, now cracking with evil echoed throughout the building. He was escaping out of the back entrance.

A large bang sound interrupted Elsa's stuck thoughts, as Mattias and a few others, including Anna and Kristoff, barged into the room with concern.

"E-Elsa? Are you okay? We heard screams." Anna's soft voice shook nervously as she saw the panic in her sister's eyes.

A sudden feeling of terror overcame Elsa. She felt as if something was clawing inside of her. Her hands began to shake as she held back on randomly shooting piles of ice at her friends and family.

"I-I don't-" The blonde couldn't even comprehend a sentence, the familiar voice was back again.

'You're nothing Elsa. You couldn't even save her. Let the darkness consume you, its been a long time in the making.'

"Elsa?" Anna's concern grew by the second as she carefully placed a hand on Elsa's shoulder, shaking it lightly.

The blonde girl began to breathe heavily out of her mouth. "L-Let go of me, please! Some-something is happening to me! GET OUT OF MY HEAD. I KNEW THESE VOICES WEREN'T NORMAL!"

Anna flinched back, looking hurt but still concerned for her sister. She had been seeing voices? Why wasn't she informed?

'Elsa, let go. You have all this anger, LET IT OUT!'

The blonde girl took a final breath in and frantically shook her head. "N-no! I refuse to be- I can't! I just-" But by then it was too late.

The blonde girl screamed loudly in pain, she screeched so loud that even the evilest of people would be scared. This wasn't Elsa anymore.

"E-Elsa? N-NO!" Anna yelled, being held back by Kristoff. The blond boy knew something was about to happen, and cautiously stepped away.

After a few seconds of silence, a tiny giggle erupted from the Fifth Spirit's throat. "This isn't Elsa anymore. I AM SICK OF ALL THIS PAIN!" Her eyes were a bright purple.

As Anna was dragged away, for the first time in a while, she once again felt numb. So numb to a point where even the memory of thinking Elsa was dead was nothing compared to this.

And as the redhead saw her own sister shooking ice violently in every direction, she knew one thing, and that was that she needed to lure Elsa away from the commotion and to Honeymaren. Maybe she and Honeymaren could get her back, just maybe.


	14. Panic Room

A large spike of ice was shot towards the sky as Anna ran for her life. Her rigid breaths seemed to overexaggerate by the second as she began to run out of breath. Dark, ocean blue eyes stared into her soul when she turned around. They weren't the loving, kind but cautious eyes she had grown to be familiar with. These eyes were...broken....they were lost. They were dark. Traces of royal magenta dared to seep into the girl's eyes.

"Don't. Run. From. Me." Elsa commanded through gritted teeth, bursting open the door of the church so hard with her magic the hinges almost fell off carelessly.

The wind blew in a panicked manner around them, it seemed time had slowed down, and the spirits had realised the sudden unbalance. "Please, everyone, do not hurt Elsa! Avoid her attacks, fight back the purple beasts and if you see Prince Hans in the mix, try to snap him out of it and tie him up! He and Elsa have been possessed by this Sixth Spirit! We must help them!" Even though Anna would much rather stick her fist down his throat, she knew she had to be calm in the situation. The redhead's fists tightened as she held back tears. She forced herself to look at Elsa.

"Elsa! Please, this isn't you. Just like with the Nattmara, I know you are stronger than this! We're in this together, remember? You have Maren, too. Please, come back to me!" Anna pleaded, finally managing to slip away from Kristoff's strong grasp. The redhead considered getting within arms reach but decided against it.

The blonde stared at Anna for a second, both of her brows furrowed and quivered. It seemed for a split second, those familiar blue orbs were back again, only to be drowned in a river of purple smoke and ash. The Sixth Spirit was in control again. "I have no one. You are worthless and I HAVE NO ONE! I HAVE NO ONE!" Elsa began to sound crazy, it seemed the Sixth Spirit had taken her worst thoughts and fears and twisted them into a ridiculous reality.

A familiar sound of running water filled Anna's sensitive ears as she began to realise something. "We are next to another cliff! There is running water from a river nearby, next to the back entrance cliff. That means Pabbie led Honeymaren... oh no." The young queen thought.

"You do have someone, Elsa. You have me, you have Honeymaren, you have Kristoff, Olaf and Sven. You have all of Arendelle and the Northuldra by your side! I know there are things we don't understand and I'm sorry, please, make us understand! Please! Fight it!" Anna was tugging at as many heartstrings as she could, as she began to slowly step back. Her new, on the spot plan, was about to get geared into full motion.

"Oh, I'll make you understand alright. LEAVE!" Large ice spikes appeared from the ground as everyone dodged to the side to avoid them. Anna began running backwards, trying to absorb all of Elsa's attention. However, it seemed the blonde was faltering.

"I WILL MAKE YOU ALL UNDERSTAND," Elsa yelled, the purple flash in her eyes only darkening the more she succumbed to it. She began aiming at innocent soldiers on the battlefield.

Anna frowned and shook her head. "This is just like the Nattmara...only worse. Why is it always Elsa? She's been hurt enough." The redhead muttered to herself, clenching her fists out of anger.

The Northuldra people partnered up with the Arendelle soldiers, trying to calmly surround the Fifth Spirit. This only proved foolish as Elsa yelled out of frustration, sending a wave of snow and ice all around her. It reminded Anna of when Elsa accidentally shot her in the heart with ice.

Half of the circle was knocked out from the mere force of the strong, cold ice. It seemed Elsa had temporarily frozen some of their arms as well. The men knew not to take these attacks to heart, however.

"ELSA! I know you're in there. FIGHT IT!" Anna screamed over the battlefield. The purple shadows Pabbie had released finally began to emerge around everyone, forcing their attention off of Elsa. Kristoff protected Anna while she tried to contact her sister.

The blonde girl turned sharply to the owner of the voice, only to groan. "You again...." Elsa growled. Or what seemed like Elsa, for all they knew it could be Pabbie or the even higher being than him. "STOP trying to get me to STOP! What if I don't WANT to stop? Maybe I want to be the monster they FEAR I AM!" The Fifth Spirit's voice cracked as she began walking over to Anna, slowly, but surely. It was terrifying, seeing this look on Elsa's face.

Anna began to realise just how dangerous of a situation she was in. Her sister's eyes dared not to falter from hers, even in the slightest. Her blonde hair was out and flowing freely, and her face was so pale it was if she had become the child of death.

"Anna! Lead Elsa away from here, we'll handle this!" Kristoff explained, covering Ryder's back and hitting a possessed purple spirit over the head with an axe. It tried flying away, but Sven came running in, snapping his antlers into it.

The redhead nodded in agreement and began running. She ran and she ran and she ran. This time, Elsa thankfully followed her, breaking into a full-on sprint. Anna knew she had to hurry up, as her sister was much quicker than her.

Anna's breath began to quicken the more she approached the back of where they sneaked in. To the right of that back entrance indeed was another cliff, and the sight she began to see was a heart-stopping one.

Pabbie was seen standing dangerously close to the edge, so close that his small, stone toes lightly hung over the grass.

A dark, purple and grey smoke appeared out of his hands, and he began to float from the ground, making Honeymaren rise as well. It seemed she had been knocked out and was only just beginning to regain consciousness again.

It was like the old troll was trying to taunt them. He held Maren up in such a high position, away from the safe ground of the edge. It made Anna irritated, very irritated.

"Hey! Let her go!" The redheaded queen pleaded in a scream. Nerves began to bundle inside of her as she heard the distant footsteps of Elsa closing in.

Pabbie turned around and chuckled. It seemed the smoke was now seeping into his veins. His skin, hair and the cracks in his stone body were turning a dark magenta and black. He was being consumed by the Sixth Spirit. "Foolish child, you have only led my prize to me faster. I'll have you know, she is quite fragile but strong at the same time. However, once I broke that mental wall of hers, she was like moldable clay."

"Don't speak about my SISTER LIKE THAT!" Anna commanded, furrowing her brows with a huff. With a clench of her fists, she began inching towards Pabbie, her hand hovering over a pocket knife she kept at her waist, covered by her cloak. There was no other way to go unless she wanted to be frozen by Elsa.

The old leader troll merely sighed out of annoyance and make a 'tsk' noise with his tongue, sounding disappointed in a certain way. "I thought we learned this much, child. You can't touch me." A deep voice erupted from his throat halfway through his speech, causing Anna to gulp loudly and deeply. 

And just like that, Anna was lifted from the ground like a strong wind carrying a speck of dirt. She felt a heavy shadow pressing against her neck, waist and shoulders as the light smoke devoured her and carried her to float beside Honeymaren. She was winded, being suffocated.

"Maren!" She whispered in a hushed voice, desperately wanting the girl to wake up. The tan girl stirred but did not open her eyes.

"Elsa! I see you have finally joined us, would you care to do the honours of....excorting out our guests?" Pabbie-no, the Sixth Spirit proclaimed. He had finally taken over a vessel entirely and was now chipping away at Elsa's armour to inherit her powers as well.

At the mention of the Ice Queen, Honeymaren's eyes finally snapped open in a panic as she desperately looked around. Once she realised she was floating, the tan girl held back a scream and instead whimpered out a small yelp, a large shiver overcoming her. Anna noticed this and sent her a sympathetic glance. It seemed Honeymaren wasn't the biggest fan of heights.

Elsa appeared in their line of sight. She had slowed into a long, dramatic stride, her long pale legs covering almost double Anna would have is she walked.

Her blonde hair began to be sprinkled with purple ash, and her eyes only got more soaked in the haunting smoke the more time was wasted. Anna knew she had to pull on Elsa's last strings and had an exact plan to do so.

"Let me kill them." The blonde growled, completely devoid of emotion in her tone and looks. Her thin, ice-cold hands were clenched into a bloodthirsty ball.

"Settle, child. We are on the same side here." The purple spirit explained in a soft voice. It was almost...settling. It was a creepy, settling voice.

"E-Elsa? Is that you?" Honeymaren coughed, wriggling intensely under the restriction of the evil smoke.

Pabbie glanced over to the left at the floating tan girl and groaned. "Of course you awaken now. Quiet, girl!" He raised his old, wrinkly stone hand, and with a slight bend of his fingers, a mist escaped his palm and began to seep onto Honeymarens neck, and a heavy force was applied to the skin. She felt as if she was being choked in a never-ending cycle.

"Stop it! You're hurting her!" Anna yelled, wailing and flailing her arms and legs around like a mad child on Christmas. 

"Don't make me hurt you too, young Anna." The Sixth Spirit explained blankly, his eyes entirely focused on bruising the Northuldran girl.

As this scene took place, Elsa watched on from inside her mind. She felt trapped. She was trapped. A thick fog covered her mind and seemingly her memories, but she pushed through it. She needed to, for everyone. 

'Elsa! Do you wanna' build a snowman?'

'Hey, Snowflake.'

'Elsa! If you don't want me to run into the fire then DON'T run into a fire!'

'I love you, Elsa.'

Images flooded around her like the crashing waves of the Dark Sea. The blonde needed to get out, she needed to get escape, and something that the Sixth Spirit said outside of her mind seemed to push her over the edge at that moment.

"Poor, human weaklings. Why does Elsa protect you people? Two completely different civilisations tied together because of one foolish Northuldran girl who saved an arrogant Arendelle boy during a ridiculous battle. Pathetic, you all are pathetically hopeful."

"Don't say that about my mother....."

"What was that?" Pabbie's head snapped towards the direction of Elsa, whose head was facing downward towards the ground, her body slouched and standing still, almost as if she were frozen.

Elsa gasped to herself, did he hear that? It seemed Anna was shocked as well. The blonde began running through the fog in her mind. She began trying to use her powers and felt a weird type of power flow through her body. From the tips of her toes to the top of her head, the sudden energy flowed through her.

"I said, don't talk about my mother like that!" Elsa's head shook viciously with a painful growl. Purple, smokey eyes turned back to a familiar ocean, crystal blue. The black in her veins scurried out of her body faster than the travel of light. She was in control now. Or so she thought.

Pabbie let go of Honeymaren and left her and Anna to float helplessly in the air, almost as if they were glued to invisible chairs, forced to watch a horrible scene. "Poor child, you may think you are in control, but this is only just the beginning."

The possessed troll flicked his right wrist to the right, making his forearm face upwards towards the cloudy sky. With a clench of his fist, the all too familiar purple smoke escaped his body, flooding out of his hand like melted ice. It surrounded Elsa again, as screeches invaded her brain.

The Fifth Spirit cried out in pain. Her head was aching as something hit and pounded against it. Something was trying to get in, but her mind kept pushing it out. This creature forced her onto her knees, as she closed her eyes and scrunched her face in concentration.

"Get out of my head, evil spirit! I refuse!" She demanded with a determined growl. Elsa's head was spinning in circles, was this what insanity felt like?

"Obey me. You will obey me." The Sixth Spirit commanded with a pained groan, it seemed even his attempts to control the ice queen were hurting him. 

Elsa's eyes flashed back and forth in a never-ending battle of pain. Purple, black, red, blue, white. It was like disco lights flashing from her eyes. It pained Honeymaren to see Elsa like that, and it certainly frightened Anna.

Then, it all stopped. Elsa's head rested against the soft, long grass of the cliffside, her arms out in front of her as she knelt down, almost bowing.

"That's it, finally. I will admit you're the first to fight that hard, but not hard enough." The evil troll chuckled, her purple eyes flashing brightly for more effect.

"No...' Anna mumbled in disbelief. She began thrashing violently as she saw her sister stand with a slow, dramatic sigh. Elsa wouldn't give up that easily, would she?

"That's right," The Sixth Spirit chuckled, "Stand." And Elsa did just that, she stood with her head facing down at her covered feet.

"I will stand, but not for you. I stand for Arendelle, I stand for the forest, the Northuldra, my family, my friends. I stand for everyone. Not you." The spirit looked up, her face blank and filled with pure pain. She was angry, and not just the annoying type of anger, she was rage-filled. 

"Clever girl, trying to trick your enemy. However, I am not that foolish. I will still do what I came to do, ruin you." The Fifth Spirit growled out a strained, forced evil laugh, shaking his head like this whole fight was one big game to him.

"You need to choose, young Elsa. Do you choose this... puny Northuldra girl? Or do you choose your pitiful foolish girl of a sister?"

"Don't talk about them like that!" Elsa yelled, her voice not wavering. Something was off about the Fifth Spirit, it seemed everyone but Pabbie noticed this. She seemed... broken. "I can't choose between them. They're both my family to me and have special places in my heart." The blonde hissed, tensing her hands into tight fists. Her long nails pierced her skin, and a few droplets of blood seeped into her fingertips.

A roar of laughter erupted throughout the land. If it wasn't for the constant clatter of swords and moaning of the purple creatures in the background, you would have thought the laughter corrupted the whole land to silence. "You care so much for this puny little girl of the forest? They're nothing but a stupid tribe with a set of rules! They believe this, hate that. There is no freedom. I can't believe you of all people are okay with that, Elsa. You were the one that wanted to let go."

Elsa internally groaned at the mention of her cringe filled past. "The context of wanting to let go was way different from how you are labelling it to be. I wanted to let go, to be free, as I had been locked up for roughly thirteen years with no one! I had no schedule, zero freedom and little purpose. I like rules, I like beliefs, it gives you the freedom of exploring and believing, while still having ground rules so you don't go crazy. I see now why you were banished, Sixth Spirit, you are merely power-hungry. The people of the Magical Forest, the Northuldra, they are a sacred tribe, they are beautiful people. They understand how the spirits work and serve to protect them. And YOU have NO RIGHT in saying what you say about them." Elsa was practically spitting in front of her by the time she had finished her speech. Fury was visibly building inside of her.

The Sixth Spirit scoffed and shook their head. "You don't know what you are saying girl, you have only seen a slither of the entire world. This world is filled with puny slaves and great kings. There is only one difference between these levels of people, and that is power. Power gives you luxury and reassurance. I won't say this again, choose."

"I-" Before Elsa could continue, Anna butted in forcibly. 

"ELSA! Please, save Maren and not me. I know how stupid this sounds, seeing as I am the Queen of Arendelle now, but trust me. In the long run, I know my sacrifice will be worth it."

Elsa's brows furrowed as she looked at her sister in disbelief. "Are you crazy? That is a terrible idea! Anna I, I can barely live without you for two weeks. If you were to go I couldn't live with myself." The blonde sighed and took a deep breath in, turning to Pabbie. His once stone skin was now a type of grey ash. "Sixth Spirit, I cannot choose. I choose myself. Fight me, take me, whatever you need to do. Not them."

"You would really give up your life for these people?" The Sixth Spirit began, their voice booming in question as they turned to Anna and Honeymaren. "Humans really are crazy." The possessed troll stuck out his hand and tightened it once more. Purple smoke stuck to Anna and Honeymaren's skin as they clawed at their necks.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" Elsa screamed, her hands glowing and covered with frost.

The Sixth's Spirit's plan was almost complete. It just needed a little more time.

Elsa shot out a huge blast of ice, it was like one large wave coming together to form a large sharp tip of a spear. The blonde aimed right for the heart.

The Sixth Spirit didn't expect her to shoot so soon but still predicted the attack, managing to just scrape away. The entity dropped to the safe ground of the cliffside and left Anna and Maren floating in the air like sitting ducks. 

"I'm sick of all these people, these things showing up in my life and ruining everything! I can barely have a break! I hate you! I hate you and will certainly never let you even look at this country's territory ever fucking again!" Elsa yelled, pulling her fists up into a fighting stance. Her hands fumed with hot ice, and light drops of melted mist showered down her skin like sweat.

"You don't understand a thing, child. You are looking at the world from a much too positive direction. When you are betrayed a certain amount of times you will realise I was right. Leadership and courage only get you so far, power gets you further!" The Sixth Spirit barked. Pabbie's body smirked up a dead grin and began to raise his hands as well.

"No... you are the one who doesn't understand. I have been through pain. I lost my parents, I almost lost my sister, I was humiliated and locked up for having powers. My father was mentally manipulating as he was as scared as anything. I've almost died many times over, and my mental health is awful. I became the Fifth Spirit to protect, so I certainly won't be losing to the hands of you." Elsa growled.

The two powerful spirits almost in sync took turns blasting beams of their powers at each other. It was like a show of light and dark, a baby crystal blue and deep, royal purple fighting for dominance.

Anna watched on hopelessly, still squirming around and trying to escape. It was only then that she realised that while the Sixth Spirit was distracted, their grip on how still they held the two girls loosened. "Psst, Honeymaren, follow my lead, slowly."

The sound of dark clouds and light ice hitting each other filled their ears as they exchanged their turns of dominance. It seemed, however, the Spirit was almost draining Elsa, draining her of her strength to continue.

For a mere second, Elsa let her eyes wander, resulting in being hit by a huge wave of purple weight. The blonde groaned as her back hit a nearby oak tree. As soon as Pabbie's possessed body was about to strike her again, the blonde sent out a beam of ice beforehand.

This made the Sixth Spirit almost laugh. "Puny child, you are no Spirit. Look how weak you are!" With all their strength, the spirit began to push Elsa further and further backwards. The amount of light that contested the dark beam got smaller and smaller as hope began to vanish.

"ELSA!" Anna yelled from away from the battle, she was still slowly travelling towards the cliffside, almost swimming in the air. "YOU HAVE GOT THIS ELSA. WE BELIEVE IN YOU. WE LOVE YOU. PLEASE FIGHT!"

Elsa's face went from pure exhaustion to concentration at her sister's words. However, it seemed the Sixth Spirit was still amused.

"Poor girl. What if she really knew the truth? The truth that you are not good enough and cannot save these poor people? That you can't save her. That you are weak. Almost as weak as your family."

That comment sparked something inside Elsa. It felt similar to her powers, only like a raging fire crackling on a winters day. Her candle had turned into a wildfire.

"You don't get to say that." Elsa barked with a furrowed brow. She pushed out her hands and focused all of her power into one blast. It almost hurt to use this much energy, and she had her suspicions of why she was being drained so quickly, but she needed to do it, for everyone's sake, not just hers and her family.

The Fifth Spirit's skin began glowing like the sun, and her crystal blue eyes pierced into the heart and soul and Pabbie's long gone body. Pabbie was merely a body vessel now, with dead and lifeless eyes. Elsa's platinum blonde locks shone so brightly it hurt to look at. The wind picked up as she groaned in frustration. Maybe Gale was finally back?

"I'll be seeing you in hell, Sixth Spirit." Elsa groaned, her power finally beginning to overcome the other spirit. 

It merely chuckled and shook its head. "I'll be seeing you much more sooner than that. Much sooner." The Sixth Spirit involuntarily let go and stopped using their magic, letting Pabbie's now dead body fall off the cliff. 

A large purple cloud and mould formed in the midday sky and a crackling of a storm in the distance startled everyone. On the other side of the courtyard, Kristoff spat on the ground as he chopped at another purple ghost. Before he could finish it off, however, it flew into the sky in a sudden panic, joining the clump of purple above them.

Then, with a flash of lightning, it was gone. The Sixth Spirit was gone and Elsa had merely defeated its vessel, not its true form.

Anna and Honeymaren began to wobble in the air suddenly, and panic set over them. They began yelling as they fell, and Elsa was too far away to save them. But one other spirit could save them, and that spirit was Gale.

The Wind Spirit picked them up in a hurry, patting their heads quickly before hurrying over to Elsa. The Wind Spirit, she seemed scared and panicked.

"Gale? You're back? Does this mean the other spirits are okay too?" Elsa sighed out of relief, leaning into Gale's touch. She then looked over at Anna and Maren and gasped.

"Anna! Honey!" The Fifth Spirit ran quickly over to them, her blonde and now messy hair flowing freely behind her back. Her sister was closest to her, so she threw her arms around Anna first, sobbing into her shoulder.

"Don't ever do that again, Anna! I was worried sick for you!"

The ginger scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Worried for ME? You were possessed and also literally glowed like a god mid-battle! I should be worried about you!" The two girls embraced again, enjoying their familiar company and comfort.

After their small talk was Honeymaren waiting for Elsa. She seemed quieter. 

"Honey, I-I-" Elsa tried to speak, but words refused to come out of her mouth. She stuttered over her sentence as Maren merely shushed her with a hug. A tight hug at that. Tighter than any of Anna's hugs, which was very hard to outdo. 

The sudden embrace shocked Elsa, but the pale girl merely accepted the hug, placing her head on top of Maren's and wrapping her arms around the top half of the tan girl. Honeymaren had her arms around Elsa's waist as silent tears fell down her face.

"I almost lost you. What if I lost you, Snowflake?"

Elsa's brow quirked upward at the outburst. "What do you mean, Honey?" The two girls released from the hug as the leftover survivors of their army began walking towards them.

"I-If I lost you- I wouldn't know what to do. You're s-so... you're my life, Elsa, I hope you know that. You mean everything to me. You're so perfect and I want to wake up every day and see your smile, not your grave."

More tears dripped down Maren's cheeks as Elsa stood there in shock, looking down at her. "H-Hey Maren, I'm right here, baby. Look, I'm right here. I always will be here." And as Elsa leaned in and kissed her girlfriend lightly on the lips in front of everyone, Honeymaren knew the girl wasn't lying.

"I always will be."


	15. Set Free

Elsa sighed as the last of the broken chains fell to the cave floor. There had been a lot more trolls locked up than she had expected. It had broken the blonde's heart, as the trolls had been a huge part in her life. She wondered how Kristoff was feeling, as Grandpa Pabbie had practically been his grandfather growing up.

"Hey, Bulda, what happened to the children and people stolen from Arendelle? They... they weren't in any of these cages is all, I'm worried that they didn't...make it." The Fifth Spirit said, leaning down towards one of the more known and older trolls. The older troll furrowed her stone brows and shook her head.

"I'm sorry kid, I haven't seen any humans come in and out of this area. After we were locked up we were forced into darkness, being pushed into a forever sleep, we couldn't see or hear nothing. Well, that was until you guys came, thankfully."

Elsa nodded understandingly and smiled down at Bulda, anxiously playing with her pale fingers out of habit.

Honeymaren was behind the two and had listened to their conversation, and noticed her girlfriend's immediate distress as soon as the news of no Arendelle citizens coming through was said.

"Snowflake, we'll find them. They're out there somewhere, we know that. It's okay." The tan girl placed a calm hand on Elsa's right shoulder as they walked back out into the sunlight, beginning to travel back more towards the Magic Forest.

The Fifth Spirit smiled sheepishly at Honeymaren and kissed her hand that was still delicately on her shoulder. The Northuldran girl shyly looked down and grinned a goofy smile, retracting her hand.

Bulda raised an eyebrow at the two girls and immediately stretched up on her tippy toes to speak closer to Honeymaren.

"You wooed Elsa? The Queen Elsa of Arendelle? Well, technically former queen. That must have been a tough one! This blondie had a rough childhood. I applaud you and wish you two lovebirds the best." With a single wink, the troll was off, waddling over to a few children trolls that seemed more zoned out than anything.

Honeymaren stood dumbfounded at the older woman's words, blinking hard into space for a minute or two. Elsa merely glanced back at her with amusement twinkling in her eyes.

The group made it outside of the cliff area and into a nearby temperate forest. It was small but big enough to fit a temporary campsite. It seemed Anna had already begun giving out orders to the Arendelle and Northuldra soldiers, with Kristoff by her side answering any side questions.

"They really are a good pair, aren't they Honey?"

\------

The echoing crackle of a campfire filled everyone's ears, as groups of five to ten people huddled around their own respective fireplace. It may not have been Winter anymore, but the chilly weather and medium winds were still wavering each day. The sun was setting, and they were set to travel as soon as dawn came upon them.

"Bulda, may I know how this whole ideal started?" Elsa began with a questioning tone, hugging herself with her mothers scarf carelessly tossed over her shoulders. It wasn't like the cold bothered her, she didn't even feel that chilly, she just felt off and wanted comfort from the familiar cloth. She had put her hair up in a messy ponytail. Honeymaren sat beside her, her head resting comfortably against the blonde's shoulder.

Bulda glanced up to Elsa from across the fire, hunched over in her wooden log seat. An orange and yellow mix shone in her black eyes as she thought out her next words, staring into the distant greenery.

"How this whole thing started? I am guessing you are referring to when old Pabbie went... power crazy... how he met the Sixth Spirit and how we ended up locked in cages?"

Elsa merely nodded in response, wrapping her right arm gently around Maren. She was still afraid of what people would think of her being the way she was, attracted to women, but she knew at least people couldn't discriminate too badly against her. Gay marriage was legal in Arendelle, and from what she could see The Northuldra weren't too judgemental on their partners. The thought gave her hope for a more peaceful future.

Bulda sighed and stretched her arms above her, cracking any bones to prepare herself for a long story. The troll looked tired and defeated, but continued on anyway.

"Well, I guess it all started immediately after young Anna and Kristoff's wedding. She looked beautiful by the way. He just was acting off all the time after that day, and I just presumed it was because he was in deep thought as always, but oh boy was I wrong. Turns out, he had been visiting someone each day."

\------

A distant black figure walked cautiously past the sleeping stones on the mossy, grassy area, their footsteps almost dead silent. It was a mid-afternoon, and light winds accompanied the blazing sun.

"I see you have made yourself comfortable, Pabbie of the Trolls."

Pabbie had been dozing off in his cave, unfazed by the outside world. So when a deep, strained and unknown voice spoke his name, the troll immediately jumped awake, thrusting his walking stick in front of him in a defensive manner.

"Who are you? Show yourself! Leave this place if you are not welcomed."

The shadow merely chuckled at his feeble attempts at safety, calmy pushing down the wooden stick from its face.

"But you see, I am welcomed here. I came here and travelled from the darkest and hardest of places to offer you a deal. A deal of the Spirits."

Pabbie's thick brows furrowed. The Spirits? They had not been mentioned in years, merely written in storybooks now. "What do you mean a 'deal of the Spirits', what type of sorcery do you possess?"

The taller figure chuckled, its deep voice booming. "Ah, you see this is no sorcery. Merely a trick that the ancestors of the Spirits did not want you finding. You see, I am a spirit, the Sixth Spirit. I was set originally to rule alongside the Fifth Spirit, to bring balance. To spread out the light with a little bit of dark. But I was banished for using my powers on a too large of a scale when all I wanted for there to be is balance and peace. I know you know who the Fifth Spirit is, and I want you to please tell me. If you tell me, I will let you study the dark arts of the Ancient Spirits, helping you enhance your already incredible power."

Pabbie pouted out his dry, stone lips in thought. "Why would I help you, dark Spirit? It seems you were banished for a reason."

"Well, for one, I can show you a future without the balance of light and dark. And, I can show you a future of a much more powerful you."

A large, black hand covered Pabbie's face. It felt solid, but at the same time, it didn't. It was almost like a gas, a shadowy solid pitch-black gas.

That was when he started seeing visions, dreams, fantasies. Stories thrust into his brain without consent. It almost hurt to process the information that was told to him so suddenly, but Pabbie pushed through it. What he didn't know, was someone had been watching them from the entrance, shaking and cowering in fear.

\------

"After a while I just began... to watch him in secret, to study him. Every day he changed more and more, and honestly, I don't think it was entirely his fault. It was the Sixth Spirit's plan the whole time to use his body as a mere pawn, and the more the two connected and were near each other, the more Pabbie became like him."

"So....he was tricked?" Elsa pondered, looking almost surprised that Pabbie of all people would agree to it. It just didn't seem to add up.

Bulda sighed and shook her head. "No, he definitely agreed to it and the Sixth Spirit's terms, I just don't think he realised that this Spirit was practically the Spirit of Death and Pain. It basically has the opposite effects of your powers. You protect, it destroys. It destroyed Pabbie, it destroyed villages, it's going to destroy a lot more, too. However, I do think Pabbie got what was best for him in the end. He ended up caring more about studying and dark arts more than his actual tribe and family."

A sudden thought then appeared in Elsa's mind, it made her shiver. The Sixth Spirit was still alive. "This um, spirit, it is still alive correct? I saw all of this weird purple, black and grey smoke rise into the sky when the battle ended." Elsa asked, immediately nuzzling closer to Honeymaren for comfort. The tan girl listened silently, just enjoying the blonde's company.

"I'm afraid that yes, it is still alive. To kill this thing you have to hit it with so much light it practically melts away and evaporates. Then again, it can't truly die, it will just be banished like it was all those years ago. Like atoms, when the Spirit evaporates it takes on the life of many tiny forms to survive. That is why I believe it won't be returning for a while, but please still be ready for it, my child. To banish this being to the darkest parts of Earth, you are going to need as much rest and energy as you can gather."

Elsa nodded and glanced over at Bulda, and then to Kristoff. He was holding Anna's hand at the campsite next to them, looking lost and deep with thought.

"I-I am going to be right back." The Fifth Spirit stated, getting up and giving her mother's scarf to Maren, kissing the top of the girl's head.

The blonde cautiously tiptoed over to Kristoff, tapping the muscular man on his shoulder from behind him. "Hey, Kristoff, can we talk?" Elsa asked blankly.

The blond boy stared dumbfoundedly at her for a few seconds, before responding. "U-Um sure! Why do you ask?"

"Just come with me, please." Elsa pleaded quietly. Anna glanced up between the two, before letting go of her husband's hand and signalling for him to go.

"Thank you, Anna," Elsa began with an appreciative grin, "Let us go."

The pair walked into a deeper part of the woods, strolling along in silence. The only sounds you could hear were the sounds of the distant crickets and echoing laughter of soldiers settling down for the night. Elsa made a mental note that she would sit there for a while after dinner.

"They think they won, this is merely the halfway rest point. The laughter they have tonight may be the last time they truly smile." Elsa thought to herself, furrowing her brows deeply.

"Hey, Elsa, why did you want me out here away from everyone for?" The sound of Kristoff's tired voice ripped Elsa out of her thoughts and back into reality. The blonde awkwardly played with her fingers and looked down at the ground. They had now halted under a small, skinnier tree that towered over them in height.

"I just wanted to know if you were okay. This whole experience would not have been a positive one for you, and I just want you to know that I am here for you and will always be supporting you, Kristoff." Elsa tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and looked him dead in the eyes. She wasn't going to let him hide away his emotions liked he used to all the time, like her, not anymore.

"I-I am-" It seemed the blond boy struggled to speak. A lump formed at his throat as he let out a shaky breath. "Thank you, Elsa. Truly, I-I don't-" Tears began forming in his umber brown eyes as he clenched his large fists out of frustration.

Elsa noticed this and immediately stepped closer to the boy, gently placing the fingertips of her right hand just under his knuckles to comfort him. After she felt a few wet drops fall onto her forearm, the blonde girl got on her tippy toes and threw her arms around his neck, allowing him to let his feelings out. Kristoff wrapped his arms around her back and sobbed quietly, almost to himself. He felt as if he needed to tell himself this as well, not just Elsa.

"I know how hard this must be for you, seeing....the trolls.... like this. I'm so sorry. If there is anything I can do to help, I'll do it in a heartbeat. Don't think I forget that you're my family, Kristoff. You're like a little big brother to me, okay? I'm here for you." Elsa rubbed her right hand gently up and down the taller boys back, letting him cry above her shoulder.

They swayed there in silence for a few seconds. Kristoff's crying after a few minutes turned into hiccups, which eventually turned into quiet sniffles and shaky breaths.

"I-It's just, why them? Why Pabbie? He was so nice to me as a kid-fuck, he took me in and became my sort of adopted family. Seeing them locked up like that, like animals, it makes me sick! I just... want to find the Sixth Spirit and take him down. I want him to pay for what he has done to my family, both trolls and humans. Thank you, Elsa, for comforting me. Anna already has talked me in and out of doing many things, but I still had so many thoughts bundled up and I-" Another strained hiccup left his throat as Elsa gripped his bicep with a concerned look on her face.

"It's okay, Kristoff. I'm going to find the spirit and make them pay too, we will, with time and patience."

They both then nodded to each other appreciatively, grinning wide smiles. "I didn't take you to be this soft, Maren really is rubbing off on you, huh?" Kristoff commented.

Elsa screwed her face up as they began strolling back to the campsite. "And what is that supposed to mean?" She swatted the boy's arm playfully, feigning hurt.

"Oh, nothing bad! You're just- if Anna made you glow like the stars then Maren certainly made you shine brighter than any sun. Your sister and her, they just- they really care you for, as do I."

Elsa smiled softly at the boy, tentatively commenting, "I guess I am loved. It feels....different. It's a good different."

"It's a good feeling, trust me. Anna makes my whole body explode when she smiles."

Elsa snorted and covered her face with her hand. "That was so cheesy, reindeer boy."

"H-Hey! She married a cheesy boy! This reindeer boy is also your brother now!"

The Fifth Spirit chuckled, beginning to drift towards Honeymaren as the campsites came back into view. "I guess so."

As Elsa sat back down beside Honeymaren, she realised her sister was standing next to her girlfriend with a concerned look on her face.

"Did you guys talk about.... the trolls?" Anna asked in a hushed tone, her ginger brows furrowed, concern washed over her freckled face.

"Yeah we did," Elsa sighed, sitting in her original position with her mother's scarf around her shoulders and Maren cuddled up against her, "He's not too great. He let out a lot of emotion though, so I think he will be a bit drained for a little while. Take care of him, sis."

Anna smiled softly down at her big sister. "Of course I will Elsie. I will also take care of you, especially after the whole ordeal that happened earlier today. You need rest, Elsa."

"I know, and I'm sorry that I lost control again, it was my fault for-"

"Shh!" The Fifth Spirit was interrupted by two voices simultaneously quieting her. Honeymaren and Anna exchanged an amused glance.

"It wasn't your fault, okay? We're not having any of that, I will not be blaming you for something people take advantage of. That was not your fault, and I love you." Anna exclaimed, ruffling her sister's blonde hair before walking over to Kristoff.

"What she said." Honeymaren butted in with a goofy grin, kissing her girlfriends cheek.

"Oh aren't you romantic," Elsa exclaimed sarcastically, rolling her eyes and pulling Maren in closer. She snuck in a quick peck on the lips, before retracting to keep herself from pursuing something more.

Across from them, Bulda sat there with her arms crossed, clearly amused. "You know, I'm still here right? Gosh, young kids show so much PDA!"

The two girls blushed and slightly shuffled away from each other, looking down at their laps. "Sorry." They mumbled in unison.

Bulda cackled and shook her head. "No, don't be! It's great seeing young love blossom, especially between Elsa and a Nothuldra member! Plus, this will be the last I see of you all for probably a long time, so it's nice to see."

"What do you mean by that?" Honeymaren asked in a confused tone.

"Ah, yes. The trolls are leaving late tonight to go back home and reconcile on what has happened. We need an escort, and it seems Kristoff volunteered to do it not too long ago, as he went and spoke to me about it. He's such a nice kid, even after seeing his family... betray him like that." The older troll looked saddened as she talked about recent events.

"You didn't betray or do anything, it was the Sixth Spirit. Plus, that's just how Kristoff is, so kind, caring and accepting even if you hurt him. Both of you are lucky to have each other and I wish your people the best, even after this tragedy." Elsa explained in a soft tone, almost trying to comfort Bulda.

"We certainly are lucky to have him," Bulda exclaimed with a sigh, glancing over at the new King of Arendelle.

\------

The woods were quiet, reassuring and comforting. If Elsa hadn't almost been murdered and almost murdered her entire family today by accident she would've felt quite peaceful, but her thoughts were too fresh and too wild.

She had slipped from under Honeymaren's grip when the tan girl fell asleep with Iduna's scarf wrapped around her. A small period of time alone was always relaxing to her, especially with the company of the wind and distant presence of Gale.

Elsa held out both of her hands, making snowflakes appear from her fingertips and move slowly around in the air. If Bruni was there she would have been much happier. The salamander had become a sort of therapy companion to her, she loved the Fire Spirit.

The blonde then began recollecting on the day's events, when something then winded the life out of her lungs.

'Failure.'

'Weak.'

'Controllable'

Elsa gasped unexpectedly as the air was drained from her lungs. Was it happening again? That weird panic attack? She didn't know, all she knew was the thoughts were appearing again.

'Oh please, give up the act. You know why everything is happening, it's YOUR fault.'

'You are a failure of a Fifth Spirit. Everyone secretly hates you.'

'You're ugly, worthless, nothing.'

'What would your mother think? Mother surely is looking down on you and hating you.'

"M-Mother?" She whispered to herself, clutching her head unexpectedly. "N-No she doesn't hate me, she loves me-"

'Does she really?

Elsa squirmed at her own thoughts, scared if they were her own self conscious or... voluntarily placed there by someone or something else.

"Elsa?" And just like that all of her nightmares scurried back into the back of her brain, where not even she herself could reach them. Honeymaren appeared from the treeline, rubbing her eyes tiredly. A distant glow of a campfire glowed on the back of her, making her shine in the moonlight like a newly born goddess.

The blonde whipped away her watery eyes, straightened out her clothing and pretended to be looking at the stars, faking surprise.

"O-Oh! Honey, hey. What're you doing up so late back here?" Honeymaren scoffed and rolled her eyes in an amusing manner.

"What am I doing up so late? Elsa, the fires are about to be put out for the night and you're sitting out here wide awake by yourself, I should be worried for you."

As Elsa's girlfriend got closer, the blonde realised Maren had something hidden behind her back.

"U-Um, babe? What do you have there?" Elsa queried as Honeymaren now stood practically on top of her.

"This!" Honeymaren exclaimed with excitement. It seemed to be a bowl of soup and a thin blanket for... them. That made the Fifth Spirit's heart flutter. "I got you your dinner and a snuggle blanket."

Elsa's cheeks flushed a deep red at the gesture. "Oh? Thanks, Honey, although I'm not really that hungry."

Maren frowned at her words, sitting down against the tree Elsa was leaning on, next to her. "But if I am being honest, I've been analysing you for the past few days, you haven't eaten one thing today. Please?" The brunette pouted, holding out a small metal spoon in front of her.

Elsa contemplated for a moment, before letting out a dramatic sigh. "Fine, but if you even say or reference 'here comes the aeroplane' once, I will not hesitate to freeze you."

"Yes!" Honeymaren internally fist-pumped in victory, collecting the liquid in the spoon and slowly placing it into her girlfriend's mouth. "Snowflake, you're so cute when being spoon-fed, did you know that?"

Elsa scrunched her nose and pouted. "I am an evil ice queen thank you."

"That likes to be spoon-fed," Honeymaren mumbled, immediately giggling when Elsa's ears and face turned bright pink. "Gosh, you're cute."

"Also, don't forget this!" Maren grabbed the thin, bright blue blanket that sat neatly folded on the grass next to them, folding it out so it could cover both of them. The tan girl wrapped it around them so they were in some type of blanket burrito.

"You realise you're just going to freeze no matter what, right? It's windy and I'm cold." Elsa snorted, nuzzling her face into the crook of Honeymaren's neck. The tan girl rolled her eyes at the comment.

"You may control ice, but your heart and presence warm me up, I assure you. You're the warmest person ever." Elsa refrained from squealing at the adorable remark.

"Now, let's just watch the stars for a while, Snowflake." Honeymaren took the band out of her girlfriend's hair and let it fall loosely around her shoulders. And there was only one thought on Maren's mind as she looked from the stars and back to her girlfriend.

Elsa looked truly beautiful in the moonlight.


	16. Arendelle

It seemed to of been the crack of dawn. Anonymous birds chirped away and pecked at stray food on the ground, while the Earth moved peacefully. The wind blew lightly and the sun shined brightly. Everything in that one moment seemed just right.

Elsa groaned at the sounds of movement, plus having the bright sunlight burning away at her eyes. It wasn't much sunlight, considering she had fallen asleep under a tree, but it was enough to annoy her nonetheless. 

The blonde girl tried to move, attempting to move from her side, only to be stopped by a strong grip around her waist. It seemed throughout the night she had turned over to the other side and Honeymaren had followed, cuddling into her backside and keeping her warm. 

Elsa glanced over her left shoulder, and wow, Maren really did look beautiful while she slept. The curve of her shoulder to up her neck seemed to be perfectly angled, popping out her jawline. Her facial features were all relaxed, but her brows cutely furrowed every now and again. Her lips were slightly pursed out, as her face was squished lightly into Elsa's backside. The sight made even Elsa question her own beauty, which she knew she possessed a lot of.

The blonde rubbed her eyes tiredly, furrowing her brows deeply when the sound of rustling bushes filled her sensitive ears. The sounds were faint and far away but troubled her nonetheless.

It wasn't until a quiet high pitched squeal filled her ears, that Elsa woke up fully, still wrapped in Honeymaren's warm embrace.

With wide and worried eyes, the Fifth Spirit snapped her neck upwards, only to find her sister jumping up and down from the treeline next to the camp, clapping her hands lightly in their direction. She looked an excited child who had just bullied their parents into getting candy. 

The two siblings made eye contact, and Elsa sent her an amused eyebrow raise, only for Anna to talk behind her over her shoulder quickly and run over to her sister. A man was running behind her too, it was Mattias. The poor man could barely keep up with the hyper read-head. Anna made up for her tiny height with her incredible speed and agility. She was always able to keep up with Elsa's long legs all their life, even in the present time. For a girl who ate chocolate like there was no tomorrow, Queen Anna of Arendelle was strong and fast.

"Elsa!" Anna yelled in a hushed voice once she was in closer proximity to Elsa. She threw her arms down dramatically and tensed all of her face muscles like she was panicked or mad.

Elsa furrowed her brows at the redhead, an amused smirking itching to appear on her soft lips. "What is it?" She whispered back with the same dramatic energy, widening her eyes slightly.

"T-That! D-Did you two do what I think you-"

"NO!" Honeymaren stirred next to Elsa, rolling over opposite her and cuddling deeper into the blanket. There were fallen leaves and dirt all through her hair. The Fifth Spirit quickly clasped a hand over her mouth, realising how loud she exclaimed her words. She then cleared her throat and continued. "Excuse me. N-No. We did certainly not do that. We merely cuddled, Anna. Don't make me bring up Kristoff-"

"I know I am old, but I can still hear you, children." The two sisters snapped out of their banter and both shot their attention onto Mattias, who stood a few metres behind Anna, still huffing and puffing from presumably the short run him and the shorter girl had taken.

"M-Mattias! Hah... sorry." Anna said sheepishly, hissing through her teeth and awkwardly rubbing her neck, looking down at the ground.

"Oh, my Queen don't be sorry! I'll have you know that I too have had my fair share of love and romance-"

"Okay! That is enough dirty-minded comments for one morning!" Elsa chuckled, sliding away from Honeymaren and standing up on her two feet, brushing the excess grunge off of her glowing dress. 

"What're you going to do about her?" Anna commented, nodding down to a still sleeping Maren. The Northuldra girl must not have properly slept in a while as she seemed to of been knocked out like a light.

"Hmm," Elsa pondered, taking a deep breath in, "I suppose I should wake her up. Even if she looks so adorable. Are we going back to the forest today? Or are the injured getting taken to Arendelle for more advanced treatment?"

"I informed my men to wait until Kristoff and his guards get back from his scouting mission before we make any big decisions. He went to check up on the camp the Arendelle citizens made on the cliffside, and to see if the town was okay. I have a feeling that spirit is going to do something sketchy. But if everything is clear, yes, we are going to move all of the people back into town and bring the wounded with us to be treated. The rest of the Northuldra that didn't suffer more extreme wounds can head back to the forest, or join us if they wish."

Elsa nodded in agreement, coming to the conclusion that that was a good enough plan. It was much better than just storming back into places that they left empty for a reason. Bulda said that the Sixth Spirit was alive, and she didn't know where it could possibly be hiding. "Kristoff on a scouting mission? I thought he left to escort back the trolls?"

"He did escort them back, however, he also took some personal protection with him so they could go straight to Arendelle and survey the situation. I'm sure he's fine."

The Fifth Spirit merely nodded along with her sister's words and looked over her shoulder to check on Honeymaren. Her girlfriend was still asleep, however, the blanket that was once comfortably tucked on top of her had fallen off to the bottom of her legs due to the wind.

Elsa scoffed amusingly at the sight. Her girlfriend was a gigantic baby at heart, and she was pretty sure most people already knew that. 

"Maren?" The blonde cooed softly, crouching down into a squat position. Elsa placed her delicate fingers cautiously onto her girlfriend's face, wiping her thumb gently across Honeymaren's features.

The tan girl moaned out of annoyance but smiled at the feeling of Elsa's hand on her skin. 

"Mornin' Snowflake." A huge yawn erupted from the girl, Honeymaren stretched out her shorter limbs and sighed contently.

When she finally opened her eyes they met ocean blue. Elsa was smirking amusingly, shaking her head at the tired girl. "Long night, huh?" The blonde ruffled the girl's already messy bed hair.

That comment caused Maren to roll her eyes and groan even louder than before. She chucked the blanket over Elsa's head out of annoyance and began taking her hair out of her braid, beginning to redo it in a neater form.

"Hey!" Elsa chuckled, removing the blanket from her head, "We're heading back to the forest once Kristoff comes back, let's go have our breakfast, you tired baby."

Not even God could prepare them for the news that awaited them merely hours later.

\------

"And then, Elsa rode a bike down the stairs! A huge bike! We almost crashed into one of the armour stands downstairs, it was hilarious!"

Anna, Elsa, Honeymaren, Bulda, Mattias and Olaf were all sitting around on nearby logs, snacking away at the breakfast foods and oats they had packed for the journey. Anna was recalling the story of when Elsa got sick on her birthday.

The Fifth Spirit was awkwardly hiding her head in her hands from the story. She had felt almost drunk that day. She rarely got sick, and it was strange whenever she did get a virus.

"Oh my gosh," Honeymaren chuckled, glancing over at Bulda who was also snickering, "You two really are eventful, aren't you? It's something else."

It was almost noon, the midday sun shone down on them now. The shade of the trees barely managed to cover their small frames.

"Your Majesty!" A guard came jogging from far away, dodging between the large oak trees, almost tripping over loose rocks on the ground a plethora of times. He was Jackson, one of the youngest guards in the palace, newly recruited. Anna noticed how much his family was struggling after they lost their business, so she offered up a personal guard job to him so he could pay his family's bills. He was quiet and lanky, but he held his ground when needed.

"Jackson? What is it?"

The young, short boy fumbled with his hands. It was a common nervous habit of his. "The King is back your Majesty, with...all of Arendelle with him."

"What?" Anna deadpanned, ginger brows furrowing so far down you would think she was permanently grumpy. "That's not- it was supposed to be a checkup, not an evacuation."

"T-That's the thing. A lot of the kingdom is... sick, it seems like."

Elsa made eye contact with Anna, both empathy and sympathy flowing through her. She remembered tough times like these as queen, it wasn't a positive feeling knowing there was something wrong and you didn't know how to fix it.

"How is that possible? It's a bit strange for an entire kingdom to just suddenly get sick." Honeymaren yawned from beside them, her dark brown eyes glimmering with incertitude.

"That's the thing, it's not some common cold or pneumonia, it's like they're turning into white statues. Their skin is turning.... a weird grey. It's like the Nattmara all over again but with humans!"

Anna's breath hitched at the mention of the Nattmara, both her and her sister desperately would always try to forget that dark time. Both of them were not mentally stable in the slightest when all of that happened, but it only brought them back together stronger than ever, bond unbreakable. They learnt in those few days that both of them were good at hiding their inner emotions. To think that only happened a few weeks before they travelled to the Enchanted Forest baffled most. Time seemed to really not be their friend.

"I'm guessing they are being escorted back to the forest. If this is anything like the Nattmara, then I have a feeling the Sixth Spirit has tampered with terribly dark magic." Elsa exclaimed with deep worry in her tone. She pondered for a moment, before continuing. "Are there any other symptoms besides the change in skin tone?"

"Yes. Patients have been experiencing high fevers and temperatures, large amounts of sweating, dry throats, sore eyes and constant tiredness that only strengthens each day. It also seems to not be contagious in any way, as people who have had or been in contact with infected have been completely fine."

"Have any animals been affected?" Anna rushed out, thinking about Sven and all of the reindeer in the Enchanted Forest that could be infected with the tiring disease.

"No, your Majesty, just humans I am afraid."

Elsa nodded and took a deep breath in, immediately standing up on her own two feet. She towered over Jackson and it was quite amusing. Her elegant spirit dress flowed in the light wind as her blue eyes sparkled in a familiar way. Anna could recognise that determination anywhere. Elsa was glowing like a god, and even Jackson took a second to glance at her with awe.

"Well, I guess we should visit Yelena. Hey, Honey, do you know if there is any type of things in the forest that could help with the sick citizens?" The Fifth Spirit held her hand out to her girlfriend. Honeymaren took it gently and pulled herself up from the ground, interlocking her fingers with Elsa once she stood up straight. 

"Hmm, I've never really thought about or heard of a sickness like this that completely drains someone's skin colour, but I could still ask Yelena about it. We could try many natural remedies, rituals, anything."

"Something is better than nothing!" Anna suddenly exclaimed after a few seconds of painful silence. She was trying to be cheerful, but Elsa had always been able to determine her sister's fake happiness to real happiness. No one but her could notice the slight changes in the redhead.

Honeymaren nodded in agreement with the queen, as they began to sway in silence once more.

"Jackson, be sure to prepare us all for a move. It seems we are temporarily migrating to the forest." Anna sighed, beginning to walk away to find Kristoff.

"Of course, a-and your Majesty," Jackson begun, ruffling his blonde hair around. Anna turned over her shoulder awaiting what he had to say, "I'm not too sure if this is important, but according to sources, one person was spotted walking around Arendelle. No facial features- or any features for that matter- could be spotted due to how dark it was at the time, but guards have been left around to guard the place just in case it wasn't a random person or friendly animal."

Elsa clenched her fists. It was obviously the Sixth Spirit. What the blonde couldn't comprehend was connecting the dots on how the Sixth Spirit even knew of the Nattmara. For crying out loud, it literally copied the Nattmara but made the animal's effects on humans.

Of course, it was a very old and powering being, so that was a good enough excuse, but it was also locked away for centuries. It would've had to of acquired information somehow..... from someone.

"Thank you for this information, Jackson. Go visit your family, see how they're doing. You're dismissed early for the day." Anna smiled gently, her smile barely reaching her eyes. She seemed to of been tired, like anyone would be.

The blonde boy's eyes sparkled with gratitude. "T-Thank you, my Queen! I am not sure if they are sick or not. I won't forget all of your kindness." And with that, he disappeared in the crowd that was forming on a nearby dirt road. 

"Go find Sven and Kristoff, Anna. We have a long road trip back." Elsa said, throwing her sister a mere half-smile. It seemed they were all exhausted and done with all of life's problems.

The younger sister nodded her head and took off, leaving Honeymaren and Elsa by themselves.

"So...the Nattmara. You've told me about this before, I didn't know it affected humans the same way it did animals?" Honeymaren asked with confusion in her tone.

"It didn't," Elsa said plainly and dully, "But it does now."

The tan girl's lips formed a perfect 'o' shape, silently understanding Elsa's situation. 

"Well," Honeymaren began, putting her hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, "If you want to find me, you know where to go." Giving Elsa a small put meaningful kiss on the cheek, Maren was off, going to find Ryder and the baby reindeer that she adored raising so much.

Elsa longingly glanced at Honeymaren's back as she walked off, before turning away and closing her eyes. She would need her nokk today. 

\------

The deafening silence punched at Elsa and Anna as they watched their beloved citizens get taken away in crutches, stretchers and beds. They were all squished into large tents. Their groans of pain ached Anna's heart. They sat by an unlit campfire, watching as the Northuldra both tackled their daily activities and taking care of hundreds of extra occupants.

"I should've been there." Anna deadpanned with a shaky breath, her voice more numb than usual.

Elsa turned her head to her, surprised that the girl's bubbly tone was not present, but not surprised by why her sister felt like this. "What do you mean by that?"

"I should have been there Elsa! I should have been with them as their Queen, not leaving my most trusted in charge to handle all the blows by themselves. I should've stood my ground with them!" Anna snapped slightly, her irritated tone clearly 

"Anna, you and I both know you could have never guessed the Sixth Spirit could replicate illnesses and magic as powerful if not more powerful than mine. And if you were there with them, you probably would've gotten sick as well and-" Elsa choked at the thought of her weak little sister desperately rolling around under the covers of a cold bed, groaning in pain, "You know what I mean. Anna, we make mistakes and certain decisions for a reason. You left Arendelle in good hands so you could go find out the truth yourself, so now all you can do is just be there for them. I know you will be there for them, you always have. That's why they love you, sis. You truly care."

It seemed the tips of Anna's eyes dared to let tears fall, as she sucked on her bottom lip lightly, swallowing down the watery mess that would come if she broke down. The redhead looked up at Elsa and smiled softly at her. "Has anyone ever told you you are actually amazing at words when you try to be?"

Elsa let out a breathy laugh and shook her head, looking down at her lap. "Sort of, you mostly, I suppose. I'm only ever confident when talking to anyone but Honeymaren to be honest."

A quiet whine like sound escaped Anna's throat, "THAT IS SO CUTE-"

"Anna no-"

"I'm sorry I can't help it. Seeing you with actual proper romantic feelings, when all you used to do was be disgusted-"

"Okay okay I get it I get what you mean with true love thing now stop teasing me."

Their giggling fit died down once Jackson walked over to them once again, he seemed ruffled and panicked.

"J-Jack what's- are you okay? You look spooked." Anna's brows furrowed in concern as she immediately stood up and walked over to the boy, lightly placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Y-Your Majesty-"

"You can call me Anna, Jack, it's okay." Anna smiled softly, her kind eyes shining in the bright afternoon sun. Those wide eyes always touch even the most distant of hearts.

'O-Oh. Thank you, my Queen. Queen Anna- there has been... bad things occurring with the patients. My family was infected, my little brother being the worst. He's been coughing up purple puddles and we can't figure out what type of substance it is." His dark blue eyes seemed duller and saddened at the mentioning of his brother.

"Take me to them, I must see what is happening," Elsa spoke up, her face pale and plain.

Jack turned to her with a stunned look on his face. "I-I uh, of course, Elsa."

\------

"It was it, I know it. It was the Sixth Spirit, I just know it!" Elsa was pacing back and forth outside of the Jackson family tent. The purple vomit was a lot worse than she expected. What started out as mere drops when coughing turned into small pools that absorbed slowly into the ground. Every day the symptoms of the infected had gotten worse, according to words of the Arendelle people. Elsa trusted them and knew they weren't exaggerating anything.

"What are we going to do, Elsa?" Anna asked, swallowing a lump in her throat, "We've always had a clear answer for everything, but this time around, I'm not too sure."

"Well, we can't exactly just march up to the Sixth Spirit who is hiding out in our own kingdom not knowing how to banish or destroy it. I will head to Ahtohallan for answers!"

Anna nodded in agreement, furrowing her brows. "It's so strange, we have gotten no help from outside kingdoms or not been able to contact any. Outside help would have been very handy recently"

Elsa turned back to her sister, her body still facing forward. "True, although who knows, hallucinations and other types of cloaking magic can be used to make sure we don't get any outside help. Plus, I think it's best we do this ourselves, we can't have a countrywide or even worldwide infection occurring."

Anna nodded in agreement, mentally taking notes. "You know, you should teach me 'Queen 101' when you have spare time someday. I still am not the most... formal person, like you were."

The blonde rolled her eyes at her sister, "Anna, trust me when I say this, you have improved incredibly fast at basically every role a queen must do. Even faster than I did. I just hid my weaknesses by overusing my strengths. In time, trust me, you'll learn everything you need to learn. Now, I'll be back by dusk, take care of everyone for me."

The two siblings exchanged hugs and Anna watched Elsa summon the nokk from a distance, concern shining through on her freckled features.

\------

The island glistened and glowed as familiar echoes filled Elsa's ears. She was walking through the carefully crafted halls of Ahtohallan with confidence, determination and curiosity. The blonde's hips swayed side to side as she set eyes upon the familiar room where she transformed into her new self.

Her feet carefully pressed onto the snowflake platform, and the magic of the room came to life. Elsa's skin glowed with an unknown sparkle and glow, as the familiar tingling presence of Ahtohallan flowed through her veins.

The blonde glanced up at the memories of her mother and forced herself to look away. "I want to know what is happening to the people of Arendelle. Where did this sickness come from?"

A foggy smoke-like substance filled the room as a new vision appeared in front of her. It was dark, cold looking and...plain. A figure then appeared in the vision, and that's when Elsa realised that it was the Sixth Spirit making a home for itself in the ballroom of the castle. 

"The... Nattmara? Oh, such good memories I have acquired from you, child." The Sixth Spirit exclaimed. That was when the usual foggy darkness that wrapped around it disappeared with a click of its figures, revealing a somewhat human proportioned body.

Its body was grey, veins purple and blue, eyes as dark as black could be. Long, charcoal shaggy hair accompanied it's almost blank and perfect facial features. The Sixth Spirit let a chuckle escape from its cracked lips, fixing out and straightening its bland, dark brown clothes. It seemed to of gone for the form of some type of male replica. Elsa thought he looked like some cliche horror story stereotype, although maybe that's what the Sixth Spirit intentionally went for.

"Thank you, Elsa dear. Your memories will be of use to me." 'He' chuckled, sitting down on the larger throne set at the end of the room and beginning to twirl the familiar purple magic in his hand. Elsa's jaw tightened at the sight. Her head began aching, but she continued on, willing to step into hot water to find out the truth.

The Sixth Spirit's eyes glazed over everything in the room and for a second, it felt like he was looking straight through the vision and into Elsa's eyes, but of course, that wouldn't be...possible.

Then, with a small groan and a flick of his fingers, his once purple magic turned to an ash black. It rushed out of his fingers like falling sand, as it eventually covered the screen more and more.

The Fifth Spirit's head ached, stars spun around in her vision as the next vision appeared. It was the missing people of Arendelle. Their spirits spun around in the air, crying out in pain as their bodies dropped to the floor as lifeless sags of meat. The purple spirits they had been fighting, were Arendelle's own.

Elsa cried out in pain as her final vision appeared, she clutched at her head, still surrounded by the dark fog of Ahtohallan.

The Sixth Spirit had released the black sand across the countryside, he had made his own twisted version of the Nattmara by harnessing the memories of everyone he had possessed, including Elsa. 

The blonde girl's head then hit the floor, as she fell on her knees, then to her side from the ache in her back, legs and head. The last thing she remembered before passing out was the familiar angelic voice that cried to her the night they left for the Enchanted Forest.


	17. Last-Minute Guffaws

Everything felt hazy and distant when Elsa woke up. She felt lighter, dizzier and stranger than usual. The last thing she remembered was falling down from the shock of the new memories, and now she had woken up outside, just beside the entrance to Ahtohallan.

With a groan, the Fifth Spirit pushed herself off of the ice-cold ground, furrowing her perfect brows in sudden pain. Elsa reached up to touch her head once she was balanced and on her own two feet, surprised at the stinging pain, only to retract her fingers and see blooding dripping down them like a leaking tap.

This worried the Spirit, she didn't know how long she had been out cold, but the setting sun in the horizon gave her a good enough hint. She had been out for a least a few hours, which meant she had knocked her head on some sharp ice and had lost a plethora of blood already.

"S-Shit." Elsa stuttered, feeling her head spin. She needed to get back home, and fast. The blonde stumbled over to the shore, reaching out her hand to call the Nokk. Within seconds the creature appeared at her side. It neighed with a worry in its tone, its lifeless eyes staring at the blood dripping down the Spirit's clothes.

"I'll be okay, girl. I just need to get home." Elsa groaned, holding her head with one hand. With her other free hand, she holstered herself up onto the ice horse, hissing in pain when her ears began to ring like a siren. She ripped off a piece of fabric at the bottom of her dress and lazily wrapped it around the wound. It was better than nothing, in her eyes.

"Take me back to the forest, please. I don't have the strength to guide you today, is that okay?"

The Water Nokk nodded in acknowledgment. It whinnied and jumped onto its back legs, before jumping off into a sprint, making sure not to bump Elsa off or injure her more.

As the Water Spirit ran with more life and soul than any living horse could, Elsa pondered in silence about what memories had been shown to her. Usually, the room would have glowed with positive lights, shining like the sun, showing her memories of the past or visions of the future. However, that time the room had radiated darkness. Pure, evil darkness that succumbed Elsa, making her temporarily pass out from the pain. What did all of that mean?

The smell of the ocean breeze calmed Elsa as she let her head drift for a while. She wondered how Honeymaren was doing, did Maren miss her? She wondered if Anna was handling all these issues by herself in a positive light or negative one. Did Anna need her?

It was as if the Water Nokk could almost feel her negative aura, as the horse looked back at her, nuzzling its ice nose against Elsa's side, tickling her ribcage. The Fifth Spirit chuckled and rubbed its thick and cold mane, shaking her head. "Thanks, girl."

Elsa took a breath in, she needed a plan. She didn't know how she was going to get the Arendelle people back, as they had been turned into floating creatures, but she did know she was going to save Arendelle's thrown for Anna's sake, and she was going to get rid of the Sixth Spirit.

A large groan from the Water Nokk caught the blonde girl off guard, swinging her back into reality. It seemed they were coming across a large wave, one that was too big to jump over without a struggle. These moments were usually Elsa's favourites, as she loved riding inside of a wave, seeing her reflection on the water.

The Water Spirit than slowed from its gallop and into an almost trot, spinning sideways and slowly turning into the now three-metre tall wave. Its hooves lightly patted across the water as Elsa felt herself entering another type of world.

Every small fish, plant, dirt, anything, it could all be seen with the naked eye this close up to the gigantic water wave. Elsa's eyes glistened as she spotted her shaking reflection glistening against the sunset. Her blue eyes were almost grey, most likely from exhaustion, while the injury on her head could be seen more clearly than before.

It was definitely bleeding, and fast. Drops of blood had found themselves soaking into the Fifth Spirit's clothing and down the sides of her angelic face. She would have to take off the outfit with her magic and apply a new one later. Elsa pushed back her reoccurring dizziness, focusing on the distant yet approaching horizon ahead of her.

The Water Nokk then entered the second wave that was merely a few paces in front of the first. Elsa felt the calming smell of the ocean salt fill her nostrils and the refreshing breeze blow against her porcelain coloured back. As the blonde stared distantly into her own eyes, she realised how much danger everyone was in.

'Its all because of you, as soon as you became the Fifth Spirit it arrived'

Elsa shook of the demonised thoughts. She almost temporarily forgot she even had been experiencing them, from all the drama and chaos and shock that bloomed from the last twenty-four hours.

That was when the beach came into view. The Fifth Spirit could see where the land and the sea met, where the last inches of wet sand was located. She was so close to touching the hot sand she could almost feel it-

"ELSA!" The blonde's head snapped quickly into the direction of a supposed voice calling her. To the more righter side of the beach, she could find Honeymaren waving frantically at her. The Fifth Spirit could barely manage a wave of her hand before having to return it to the side with tired, droopy eyes.

Maren stood on the sand, smiling widely. Her girlfriend had returned. The brunette quickly saw that something was wrong, however, when she saw Elsa's dress was ripped, her eyes to the seafloor and her usually blonde hair tangled and stained a darker colour around her scalp.

The Nokk took one huge leap, and with that, it landed right in front of Honeymaren. Its chest rose up and down dramatically as it let itself rest for those few seconds, before glancing down at Maren with its wide, menacing eyes. The tan girl almost felt what it was saying to her, immediately going to help Elsa.

The blonde spirit was still loosely gripping onto the reins of the Water Spirit, her breaths fidgety and rapid. Honeymaren furrowed her brows as she carefully retracted Elsa from the Nokk, wrapping her girlfriend's arm around her shoulder to support her.

"Elsa, what happened? You're.... you're bleeding!" Honeymaren gasped, taking in the blonde's paler form, and the torn fabric wrapped around her head that was soaked deeply in blood. The brunette furrowed her brows in concern and let Elsa put more of her weight against her. It seemed the Fifth Spirit was slightly wobbly with her balance, her long, skinny feet struggling to not cross over one another and collapse.

"I-I really am not quite sure," Elsa began with a small pant, turning her head to look at Honeymaren, "There was just this-this mist. It wasn't like it usually was. Typically there really isn't even mist, it just shows flashes, memories, the future. But this time there was this grey, unorthodox like smoky mist. It is so hard to put my finger on. It showed the present this time, Ahtohallan showed me the present. It showed me the Sixth Spirit, in Arendelle, sitting on top of the main throne that belongs to Anna, not that wretched thing. It was like it could see me through the mist, the Spirit looked me dead in the eyes and just.... watched. Stared. It was terrifying. Then my head started aching, my body started to become and I just.. passed out."

Honeymaren's mouth was left open the entire time. She almost did not know how to respond. "That is- weird, shocking even. I have never heard of Ahtohallan to get possessed before, we should ask Yelena about that," She began, explaining her concern, "Are you okay? Do you feel light-headed?" The Northuldran girl asked, her eyes coated with worry.

Elsa merely let herself nod slowly, "I feel a bit dizzy and I have a headache. I just need to get treated for my head and lie down, I'll be fine." She managed to choke out. Her throat hurt immensely, she would need some type of drink if she were to continue talking about what she saw.

They then began to walk in silence, Honeymaren looked over her shoulder for a few quick seconds only to see the Water Nokk staring at them still, its eyes lifeless, but its body posture clearly exhausted and filled with worry. It practically glowed against the light of the distant sun. They didn't have long until the moon would be out, and being alone in the woods at night without light was not a fun experience.

"Need to find Anna." Elsa managed to stutter out randomly. She clutched at her throat when it forced itself shut due to how dry and painful it was.

"We will Snowflake, I promise. I just need to take you to get help first." Honeymaren cooed quietly, trying not to contribute to Elsa's aching head. The brunette knew that the injury was a lot more than Elsa tried to make it out to be. The blonde had a problem with her explaining her serious problems as smaller things.

The Fifth Spirit moaned in annoyance, agreeing forcefully. In the distance the vision of lit campfires and echoing chatter made Elsa's senses almost enhanced in a way, the tiredness she was overcoming to slightly lessened for a few seconds.

"I'm going to get you something to drink and take you to the healer, okay? I was waiting by that beach for what seemed like hours, I have been worried sick about you, Els. Go rest, you need it."

The two girls stopped outside of a larger hut. A man appeared from it, he scratched at his thick and rough moustache. "Maren!" It's good to see you." He began and then glanced down at the Spirit next to him. "Oh my! It's the Fifth Spirit, what happened, child? How did you get yourself into such a hurtful situation? Come in right away, it is an honour to have you in my presence today."

"You too, Jarrah." Maren nodded, as she guided Elsa into the hut and sat her down on one of the wooden made beds. "She can't talk much, she was visiting Ahtohallan when she passed out from one of its visions. She must have knocked her head and been knocked out for a while. I am going to go get her some water and talk to Yelena." Honeymaren explained, glancing down at Elsa who was merely numbly staring at the ceiling in what looked like deep thought. She placed her hand gently on her girlfriend's forehead, brushing the loose strands of hair from her face, before kissing below her hairline softly. "I'll be back, Snowflake."

\------

"How are you feeling?" Jarrah asked with a soft smile, seeing that Elsa had awoken from her nap.

Elsa groaned and looked around. She remembered the events of the past few hours in blurs, the only thing she could clearly remember was the vision of the Sixth Spirit glaring right back into her soul through the heavy, dark mist that invaded Ahtohallan.

"I think I'm okay. Just a slight headache." The blonde explained, creasing her brows in pain at the sudden thumping in her skull.

"That'll pass within the next few hours. I have given you the right herbs and done the right rituals, I just need you to stay hydrated, please. If not, your condition could easily get worse." Jarrah explained with a polite grin, scratching awkwardly at his thick beard. People in the beard always mistook Jarrah for an older, tougher man, but at heart, he was merely a young boy with a huge love for everyone. Without the beard, he looked like a whole new person. He was surprisingly only in his late twenties, which was a lot more younger for a healer as experienced as him.

Elsa nodded slightly, taking in the information. She looked around to find remnants of leftover food and drink on the scratched wooden table in the corner of the room, mere crumbs left in bowls and droplets left in carefully crafted glasses. It seemed she had had company while knocked out.

"Hey, Jarrah, did anybody visit me when I was out, by chance?" The blonde asked, pursing her lips out slightly in thought. She was sat up slightly, her back against the headboard. 

"Yes actually! Your sister, the queen, and your friend Honeymaren did. They both took turns feeding you and giving you water. You were too dozed to probably remember it. Queen Anna is waiting for you outside, she has been for a while. For royalty, that girl has sure more nerves than a bouncing animal."

Elsa held back a smile at the mention of Anna's constant energy. As kids, teenagers and even adults, Anna always kept the same energy almost every day. She was bubbly and practically bounced everywhere she went in excitement. She was the embodiment of an excited child, but she used that to her advantage to win the hearts of the people of Arendelle. She had created a new coat of maturity since being made Queen, but Elsa adored that her little sister still was herself. She was open and caring to everyone.

"Oh? Could you get her for me, please? I'd like to speak to her about something urgent."

"Of course, Miss. I'll give both of you some privacy as well."

"Please, just call me Elsa. I may be the Fifth Spirit, but I am merely a human." Elsa gave the man a kind smile as he walked out of the room after giving her a mere nod.

A few agonising minutes later, of Elsa just sitting in silence, tapping her fingers lightly against her lower thighs, Anna slowly opened the flap of the hut space and entered with wide eyes.

"Oh, Elsa!" The redhead ran to her, tears in her baby blue eyes. "Thank the heavens you are okay, how is your head?"

The blonde chuckled and dramatically touched her head. "It's alright, although the migraines and headaches are quite annoying. I'm not allowed to move too quickly for the rest of the day because of the injury." Anna frowned with a pout and immediately gave her sister another hug.

"I also heard from Maren that you found out some pretty horrible things, what did you find out about, Els?" The two let go of the hug once more.

Elsa gulped down the lump in her throat and sighed. "I don't know where to start... there is a lot to unpack."

Anna pursed her lips and stared at the girl for a moment. "Take all the time you need, Elsa."

With a deep breath in, the blonde began to explain everything. From the smoke that invaded Ahtohallan, to the Sixth Spirit being in Arendelle, to the Arendelle citizens being turned into mere ghouls.

Then, it was merely silence.

...

...

"Anna?" Elsa stared at her sister with worry. "Anna are you okay?"

Silence. The redhead seemed off and staring at a thing that didn't exist, there was merely a wall where she glared at. Elsa glanced down and listened closer, that's when she recognised it, Anna was experiencing what she had many times before.

"Wiggle your fingers.... thinking of something that makes you happy... deep breathes...don't cry."

"Anna, Hunny come here." Elsa cooed with sadness in her tone. Not many other people saw it, but even though Anna was 21, she was still a child. A young adult, still so fragile. 

So Elsa held her, she let Anna cling onto her like a magnet, she like the wet tears drench her clothing and her hair, she like the small girl let go for the first time in forever. "Shh Anna I am right here hun, I always will try to be."

Anna shivered and held onto her older sister tighter. "Why does everything have to go so wrong all the time Elsa? Why is everything so hard? I just want to cry and cry and... not move, but I can't. I am the Queen for crying out loud, and if I can't be perfect how am I supposed to rule?"

Elsa sighed and rubbed the redhead's back affectionately. "Anna, no one is perfect. As long as you are you, they will love you. That's what separates each new generation of rulers, with each new generation comes a completely different experience of how people rule and live lives. You have saved countless lives and have almost died a plethora of times. Anna, you're so incredibly strong and yet still so open, even when hurt. I admire that, I wish I wasn't so cold, pun not intended."

Anna had to refrain from snorting at her older sister's words. "Thank you Elsa, what would I honestly do without you?"

"Probably build a snowman." Elsa giggled, now running a hand through Anna's auburn red hair.

"Oh stop it." Anna chuckled and shook her head, playfully punching her sister while still being held in a hug-like position by her.

"Hey, at least we have a little bit of news. Honeymaren spoke to Yelena and well- we might know how to defeat the Sixth Spirit." Anna gushed with a small hopeful smile. The redhead sniffled, rubbing her red nose.

Elsa laid down on her bed, bringing Anna down with her and on top of her. Her little sister laid on her chest as the blonde ran her fingers through Anna's soft hair.

"That's good." The Fifth Spirit commented with a small hum, letting her eyes droop in the slightest way. Anna noticed her sister's fatigue.

"Honeymaren misses you, you know," Anna smirked, glancing up at Elsa. "A lot." The young Queen chuckled, her large smirk only expanding even more.

"Oh, and what is that supposed to mean?" Elsa quirked an eyebrow.

"Well since you have to rest today and we leave in a few days, you need to spill on your love life."

...

...

...

"Anna you know I am not going to spill every personal detail about my relationship, right?"

"Why not?!"

"Because unlike you I don't blab on about my sexual experiences and-"

"THAT WAS ONE TIME ELSA!"

"I literally am cuddling you right now and I will not hesitate to freeze you for telling lies."


	18. Silent Kingdoms

Time felt slow, deliberate and not even real to the people of Arendelle, to Queen Anna, to Elsa, to everyone. Anna had just sent out a message and had desperately tried to personally attend to every single person of her kingdom, informing them of the current predicament on how the Sixth Spirit had overrun their town and created the sudden sickness. She remembered the horrified looks on their faces when she told them that their beloved relatives and friends had been turned into mindless soul ghouls, the colour that drained from their faces, the anger that arose inside of them.

"Queen Anna, how are our loved ones supposed to come back to us? Those ghouls... purple ghosts... they are so lifeless and almost full on gone! I'm set to give birth soon and my husband, a NORTHULDRA tribesman was somehow affected among all of the Arendelle people!" A woman pleaded form the crowd, she was lightly holding onto her large, impregnated stomach with one hand and clinging onto her daughter's hand with her other hand. 

Elsa, who stood tall next to her sister, recognised the girl holding onto her mother as the girl that she ran into under that tree that one day, Kirra. The little girl's freckled face was smudged in dirt and her eyes were red and puffy, presumably from crying and whining. "Is my daddy going to be okay?" She pleaded in a small voice up to her mother.

"I cannot confirm that every single sick person affected is going to come out unharmed and not scarred, but from Elsa's vision's I can confirm that they will come out alive, I assure all of you this. Every sick, ghoul transformed or injured person in this whole battle will return back home as soon as possible if everything goes to plan. Please, as your Queen, I plead that you all trust me. I will personally take the best soldiers I know, having a trusted Northuldra ally helping me pick, and return all of your friend's and family to you. We will kill this spirit, I promise." Anna had to raise her voice at the sudden crowd forming. 

Murmurs of both agreement and disagreement formed in the crowd as Anna let out a breath she had been holding in for far too long. She turned to her sister and looked at her with wide eyes. "Elsa," she began with a jitteriness underlining her tone, "I'm not actually quite sure if everyone will live through this..... do all of the citizens of the Northuldra and Arendelle make it out alive? They do, right?"

The two siblings began to walk over to Honeymaren while talking. The tan girl was gripping a spear tightly in her right hand in the distance, her left hand placed against her forehead in a stressed manner. She was furiously debating back and forth between Mattias and Yelena, her facial expressions overexaggerating with every word she spoke. "Anna I am... I am not quite sure, actually. My visions didn't necessarily show if they survived, just how to stop everything."

After Elsa spoke those words there was silence. That was when the blonde realised just how damaging those words probably were to the queen's hopes. "H-However don't think too much about it, sis. I promise to protect everyone and make sure everyone comes out as unscathed as possible. You cannot take responsibility for every single thing that has gone wrong, you may be queen but you are no god, none of us are, we cannot control what the Sixth Spirit does, what it does isn't your fault. Anna, you are an amazing ruler and I hope you can see just how much the town loves you. You are so incredibly strong."

The redhead sheepishly smiled and lightly nudged her older sister's shoulder with her own shoulder. "Well, honestly last time you battled the spirit you did look like a god, your eyes turned a bright white, it was a mix of light blue and crystal white, it was quite hypnotising and scary if I'm being honest."

"Wait, when was that? Did you say that was when I last fought the Sixth Spirit?" Elsa asked with furrowed brows, almost not believing the shorter girl.

"Yup, you looked so... at peace yet so angry at the same time. It was terrifying. Maybe your connection to the spirit's is stronger than you thought."

Elsa pursed her lips lightly in thought, watching the young queen approach Honeymaren. Her mind drowned out the raising voices around her, turning them into muffled echoes as she thought about her new-found powers. The Fifth Spirit had not been herself for very long, and Yelena was still to teach her new things about the forest, so it came at almost no surprise that this information had happened. Tapping into the full ability of her power's was a challenging one, especially when Elsa permanently moved to the forest, but she was still yet to unleash her full power, and the blonde wasn't sure if she wanted to or not.

"Elsa? Are you listening?" She snapped out of her trance, glancing down at Honeymaren who longingly stared at her in concern.

"Y-Yeah I am, sorry." The blonde stuttered, awkwardly rubbing her neck with her right arm.

"Honeymaren has personally chosen and handpicked soldiers from the Northuldra to aid in this fight due to the sudden sickness that plagued Arendelle's citizens. It seems however it is starting to seep over into the Enchanted Forest as from what you heard earlier, it is confirmed that Kirra's father was affected with this sickness. Poor girl, that child has seen things no child should ever have to see." Yelena explained, her wrinkled face expressing slight pain.

Mattias was tiredly scratching away at his beard, he sighed loudly and looked to Elsa. "Elsa, we may not be infected now, but the clock is only ticking downwards now. I suggested we leave straight away to fix this mess, however, Yelena keeps suggesting to leave it another day to get all of the sick at rest and all of the remaining healthy people quarantined somewhere. But where are they supposed to quarantine? Nowhere is safe anymore, not with this sickness."

Elsa pondered for a moment, that was when she came up with a plan. "Both of your ideas are valid and have points, but they also have great weaknesses. I suggest taking them both and combining them somehow. We should leave as soon as possible, however, maybe a few of us should stay behind to tend to these people with Yelena. She has hundreds of people in her hands and she cannot take care of them on her own." The two elders nodded in agreement with her, looking down at the ground to think.

"I can help her." A voice came from behind them. It was Ryder. He was still a little bruised from his last battles, a few wrappings were clearly seen on his arms, neck and face. He wore baggy pants that seemed to be a little too big for him and a once shirt that seemed to of had its sleeves ripped to be a type of tank top. Elsa didn't know why the boy wore such an open shirt, considering the freezing cold weather.

"Thank you, Ryder, although to tend to all of these people, we are going to need dozens." Yelena sighed, furrowing her brows. The wrinkles on her forehead merely multiplied as the stress set in.

"I could ask some of my men and women to stay behind to help. I doubt a lot of them want to fight again, and they're still a little shaken from last time. Since we don't have to worry about direct contact, I think they'd be able to work with the Northuldra just fine." Anna butted in a suggestion, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

Yelena nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "I think that could work. Thank you, Queen Anna."

"You can just call me Anna, Yelena. If you would like to." The redhead smiled slightly then bowed her head down slightly in acknowledgement, then turned to her sister. "It seems we have an outline of a plan. I am going to go to our people and tell them what is happening, Kristoff is probably going to check on the reindeer with Ryder to prepare them for travel and I guess you'll be packing."

"Yeah, I will be I suppose," Elsa commented softly, following behind her sister who was beginning to walk away like everyone else to do her duties, "Hey Anna, come closer for a second."

Anna turned around to Elsa quickly, shuffling closer with a confused look on her face. "What is it, Els?"

The blonde spirit then threw her arms around her sister, shoving her face into the crook of her neck, crushing her in a hug. "I just love you, so much. Don't forget that. I feel like I don't say it enough."

Anna smiled into the hug, wrapping her arms around the taller girl's back. "I love you more Elsa. I won't ever forget it. You're my sister, we fight together." They swayed in silence for a few seconds, enjoying the slow moment in time.

The two then pulled back from the entangled embrace and bid one another temporary goodbyes. They would be seeing one another in a few hours for small travel back to Arendelle, but it didn't hurt to slow down and appreciate the small things every once in a while, especially in the crisis that they were in. 

Elsa walked over to her tent, it was quite obvious which one was hers. Her humble abode was decorated with small, diamond-shaped crystals that ran down the four edges of the hut. They shone and glimmered lustfully in the sunlight. It was almost hypnotising, in a way, pulling you in like a peacock's colourful feathers.

She looked down at the few belongings she had. It was quite a strange change, going from a huge, haunting castle to a small, room-sized space with merely a few small attachment items. Although the blonde girl had to admit she preferred living in the Forest, it was a much more peaceful and easier lifestyle, but she always missed her sister ridiculously often. 

She smiled down at her limited clothing, charms and photos she had decorated the hut with. The first day she permanently resided in her small home, she made sure to have a framed photo of her and Anna in plain sight where all could gaze at it. It always reminded her that her sister was always there for her, and was always merely a nokk ride away.

"Elsa?" The blonde turned to see Honeymaren leaning against the doorway of the small space. "You ready to go, Snow Queen?" The brunette smiled cheekily, walking over to her. She held out her hand to help her girlfriend up, Elsa graciously took the tan girl's hand and stood up straight in front of Maren. She almost forgot that she was at least a good four inches taller than Honeymaren. 

Elsa playfully rolled her eyes at the girl's comment. "Yes, forest girl, I'm ready. Just had to... pack one more thing." She commented, gripping the photo in her hand lightly as a confirmation. 

They then stared into each other's eyes in comfortable silence. It wasn't in any way uncomfortable, awkward or forced. It was just the two of them, squished near each other in a pool of love.

Taking a deep breath in, Elsa gripped Honeymaren's hand with a sudden urgency, like she would die if she did not touch the other girl. "Honey," The blonde spirit began with a shaky breath, "I just- I want you to know that even though you do not need to be protected, I still will probably end up doing so. I can't lose you, I just can't. I've lost enough, and before all this Enchanted Forest stuff happened I was ready to move forward, happy and alone. But now, you have taught me what it means to love both platonically and romantically, and I could never thank you enough for that. So just, stay safe, will you?" Her ocean-blue eyes spoke enough for Honeymaren to realise how deeply Elsa was opening herself up. She had opened the key to her heart herself and was willingly letting Maren see it.

"I can't promise to come home without at least a few scratches, but I can promise that I love you, so very much, and I will try to my best ability to just- not... die?" Honeymaren hissed at her awkwardness. She rubbed the back of her neck shyly and looked at her feet.

Elsa giggled and shook her head. She let go of her girlfriend's hand and placed her delicate fingers on the Northuldra girl's waist instead. "You are quite the sight, huh?" She then leaned down ever so slightly so their noses touched. Honeymaren's eyes immediately widened as she realised what the girl was doing. They hadn't basically done that action since last Christmas.

The Fifth Spirit rubbed their noses together slowly and silently, letting out a quiet, content sigh in the process. They both closed their eyes and began to slowly sway a little back and forth as Honeymaren threw her arms around Elsa's neck and propped up onto her tippy toes. "I love you" The wild girl whispered.

"I love you too, forest girl." Elsa chuckled. She pulled slightly back from their half-hug-half-nose rub and opened her eyes to look into Honeymaren's golden brown ones. It made her feel safe, feel warm and so loved. Elsa rarely felt warm, and when she did, she knew she was safe.

They both then simultaneously leaned in and pull each other in for a soft, sensual, kiss. This kiss felt different. It was as if they knew of the future, of the dangers and of the way things would eventually turn out.

Elsa didn't say it, but her mind was screaming, 'As long as I have my family, I will be okay. We protect each other, we know each other, both the Northuldra and Arendelle people.'

\------

"Did you know that frogs absorb water through their skin so they don't need to drink?"

If it were any other day, Elsa might have told Olaf to shut up, or thrown a snowball at his head. He had been bursting out facts ever since they left for Arendelle during the late-night, his stick arms waving around carelessly as he excitedly explained his stories. Elsa today, however, just didn't feel like being mean to the poor snowman. She could tell he was trying his best to cheer them up, and it was... half working. The Northuldra men that Honeymaren had chosen to come with them, seemed more confused than a deer stuck in headlights.

"Did you know that a snowman being more intelligent than you is annoying and illegal?" Honeymaren sighed with a chuckle.

Olaf gasped and starting frantically looking around, "Is it really illegal for me to be smarter than humans? Oh my- I have to stop reading books-"

"Olaf, buddy I was joking." Honeymaren giggled, shaking her head as she saw him beginning to calm down at her comment.

"Oh, I have to study humour more. I do believe however that joke you pulled on me is called, 'sarcrism'."

"Uh- it's 'sarcasm' Olaf, not sarcrism or whatever you said." Anna giggled from the opposite side of the wooden like carriage they were on. She was closest to Kristoff, who was in the driving seat at the front, guiding Sven through the long, thick grasslands of the mountains. They were nearing the bottom and the last inches of snow were beginning to become more and more scattered the warmer it got. 

Mattias and a few leftover Northuldran and Arendelle soldiers were scattered lightly behind the main group, all of them riding on their respective reindeers. Most had to double up with two people onto one animal however, as Yelena needed as many reindeer as she could back in the Enchanted Forest to carry the many injured and sick.

The wind blew lightly across everyone's faces, they had almost forgotten about the world around them in some moments, as they had been travelling for that long. Elsa wasn't used to the slower travel due to her always riding the Water Nokk back and forth from Arendelle all the time, so it pained her the most, but she managed, she guessed that years of isolation did that to her. Anna in all honesty wasn't at all fazed, a dimply smile somehow always plastered on her freckled face. But that was just how the young queen was, she rarely showed any emotion other than happiness or excitement. 

"My Queen, are you certain that this path will not be blocked off or closed?" Mattias called out from quite a few metres behind them, his voice almost softly blowing in time with the wind.

Anna pursed her lips and exchanged a glance with her sister, who seemed to be figeting with her hands out of habit. "It should be, yes. It was a pretty secretive tunnel, it was thought to be cut off due to the waterfall in the middle of it, but Elsa can freeze and bend it so we can walk through. We went through it when escaping the Nattmara sickness. It should be the exact same, unless the Sixth Spirit found it and is guarding it." 

Mattias nodded, still processing each piece of information that was coming onto him. 

Honeymaren took a long breath in, letting her eyes shut. She leaned slightly more backwards into her seat. Well, as much as she could without falling off of the vehicle. Anna had taken up the more longer wall side with Olaf. 

The darker girl had always loved the smells of the forest, but on the very few occasions that she had visited Arendelle, like for the Christmas festival (a trip she would never forget), or Anna and Kristoff's wedding (although that had not been in Arendelle technically, it was in a place quite far from it), Honeymaren adored the smells of the more populated country towns and different climate forests. Winter down where the two Arendelle sisters lived was another experience, magical even, and Honeymaren was glad she got to experience that at least once in her life.

She then felt a fidgety hand slowly and awkwardly find its way on top of hers, most likely wanting comfort. Curiously, Honeymaren peeked open and eye to see two baby blue ocean eyes staring right into her soul. She sucked in a breath at the sight for a mere moment, before giving her a soft smile.

"You okay?" Maren whispered, her expression filled with genuine concern for the older girl. Elsa tilted her head to face her more fully, letting out a jittery breath and nodding her head slightly up and down.

"I'll manage, we are just approaching the destination faster than I would have hoped. These past few days of travel have been so nice and just- slow-paced and- dare I say it, quite relaxing. Which is bad, because there are lives truly at stake and we are somewhat just... strolling along. I feel almost guilty." Elsa admitted rubbing her left thumb across the knuckles of Honeymaren's hands. 

The tan girl's face suddenly shone with concern. Had her girlfriend never heard of having a break from the world before? "Snowflake, darling I hope you know it is okay to sometimes take a breather. I know you and relaxation don't necessarily go hand in hand, but please know it is okay."

Elsa swiftly became shy and let out a sheepish grin, looking at the ground. "I suppose so, I tend to forgot about myself in the mix of everything. Although I have never been too concerned about that. I like to help others a lot of the time, it calms me knowing I have helped someone." The blone commented.

Honeymaren shook her head with a smile, knowing all too well that her girlfriend was going to say something along those lines. She reached out with her free hand that wasn't being held and tucked a stray piece of hair behind Elsa's ear, lightly caressing her cheek and pulling on her chin to get the blonde to directly face her. 

"You're one of a kind, did you know that?" Honeymaren said with a chuckle, the mid-afternoon sun beginning to radiate down on her, as they hit a sunny spot in the road. The tan girl then ran her hand slowly down Elsa's jaw and grazed the matching necklace that was worn upon the crook of her neck. It made Honeymaren smile that none of them had taken their half off.

"I know I am, now come here, scooch in close." Elsa said, unfolding her legs a little and patting in between them, inviting Honeymaren to lay in between them for what seemed like a cuddle.

Honeymaren eagerly accepted the invite and reversed her back into Elsa, eventually touching her stomach and chest. The girls got more relaxed and the Fifth Spirit wrapped her arms around the shoulders of Maren protectively, plopping her chin on top of her girlfriend's head.

Elsa then heard a slight humming coming from Anna's side of the ride, it seemed that she was mumbling a words to a light-hearted tune.

"I don't care... I ship it..." She sung softly in mumbles, while looking up at the sky.

Elsa rolled her eyes playfully and flicked a piece of snow into her sister's ear, causing her to shriek.

"Hey!"

"That's what you get for teasing me."

While the two sister's began to banter, it seemed they were approaching the gates of Arendelle. Well, what would've been the gates. The entire town was covered in a purple, smoky dome that was near impossible to see through. Luckily, you could walk through it.

"It seems we are here." Mattias commented to himself in a murmured manner, stroking on his beard. A soldier that sat on the same reindeer behind him hummed in agreement, shuffling around in their seat.

They travelled quietly through the forest, travelling around back to where the tunnel was. Once they arrived there, they all had to stretch and practically jump off of their rides.

"Bloody heavens, my legs have gone numb!" Anna commented with a huff, shaking her head and dusting off her travelling pants. It seemed sometimes she forgot she was a queen and had to act certain ways around certain people. Although mostly everyone there had known her before she had become queen and they didn't necessarily care about her behaviour anyways.

"You're telling me." Kristoff groaned, while unclipping Sven from the wagon cart. He grabbed his hips aggressively and pulled it with a crack.

"We're going to have to leave the reindeer behind." One of the lone warriors stated with a sigh. He was ones from the Northuldra tribe.

"You're right, Kristoff, can you get Sven to guard the other reindeer and prevent them from running away?" Elsa asked, her face becoming more aware and serious of the situation they were in.

"Sure can do, ice lady." Kristoff whistled, walking over to Sven with a slightly purposeful limp in his walk, as if he were excited.

"This is it... I can still vaguely remember the night we fleed from this place." Anna whispered as they begun their journey through the tunnel. Her hands lightly grazed along the wall as her fingertips felt the rough surface of the rocks that made up the casing. The memories came flushing back to her, all the times she felt like it was all her fault and she was the only one in pain, when in reality, it had been Elsa that had summoned the beast and she had also been in a type of misery like her, maybe even worse. 

"I think the Northuldra have their own versions of the Nattmara, some good some bad, although from what you described it seems like a very dangerous creature. I'm happy you two were able to defeat it together, as honestly it brought you guys closer together as sisters and closer to the forest afterwards." Honeymaren said with a petite, faint smile on her lips. The blood rushed to her cheeks at the comment after she processed what she had said. Elsa smiled at her comment, beginning to walk faster to the front of the group after seeing the rushing waterfall ahead of them.

They all stopped in front of the water, merely gazing at it's crystal beauty. Anna ran her fingertips slightly through the ice cold water, feeling the almost pleasurable burning sensation against her skin. She knew that too much intake from that water and she could be phsycially crushed by the pressure, and also mentally crushed.

"My time to shine, I suppose." Elsa sighed, taking a deep breath in. She held out both of her delicate hands, closing her eyes and scrunching her brows ever so slightly to concentrate. Within mere seconds, and a twist of her wrists, the water had been moved, frozen and turned into an archway for them all, just big enough to be human sized.

Even after seeing her do things like that over a hundred times, Honeymaren still gazed at her girlfriend in awe. Her girlfriend was the Fifth Spirit. her girlfriend had ice powers, and she looked hot using them.

"We'll protect you and your sister from now on, your majesty." Mattias commented, bowing his head slightly to the ground. Following him were the Northuldra and Arendelle soldiers, ready to guard the royalty and Northuldra's best warrior with their life.

"So this is what it feels like to be fancy and rich, I personally don't prefer it but, I guess you all are used to it." Honeymaren snorted jokingly while walking behind Mattias and standing in front of the royal sisters. 

Anna playfully rolled her eyes at the girl and held Elsa's hand protectingly. "We may be spoiled, but we can still whoop your behind, Maren."

Mattias raised an amused eyebrow at the banter, holding a now lit torch in front of him as a guide to see in the dampened and darkened tunnel. "Very interesting use of language, your Majesty."

Anna giggled and replied, "I know, Mattias, I just wanted to give Honeymaren a piece of my very mature mind."

'Very mature' Elsa smirked to herself, mouthing the very wrong words her sister used.

After that the walk was silent, as they made their way to the courtyard outside the castle they realised how horrifying the town was without people. Arendelle was dead silent. The wind was silent, so silent and dead that it was almost screaming in a signifying way. 

"It's so... silent." Kristoff whispered as the group stopped outside the tall, lingering front doors of the familiar castle home that they had all made many memories inside of.

"Indeed." Honeymaren hummed, squeezing to the front next to Mattias and slowly pushing the door open with as much stealth as the muscly girl could.

The person that was last in was coincidentally, Elsa. The door almost slammed shut behind her on its own as the last of her body made it inside of the castle.

"Pleasure to join us, Ice Queen." An echoing voice hissed inside of her ears, making her grit her teeth in slight pain. Anna noticed this and let go of her sister's hand, instead putting her grip onto the blonde's right shoulder for support.

"Are you okay, Elsa?" The redhead asked with a concerned frown, turning her head to the side like a lost puppy dog to make direct eye contact with her older sister.

"Yeah...yeah..." Elsa began with a groan, shaking her head and gaining her composure again, "I'm just- the Sixth Spirit... it's here. It spoke to me, in my ears, in my head? Ugh, I don't know. I just- feel it."

Everyone around the ice queen exchanged worried glances. "In your head?" Kristoff asked, his voice glistening with disbelief.

"I think so." Elsa explained softly, furrowing her blonde brows down deeply in thought.

"People, we have company!"

Just as those words left Honeymaren's lips, a handful of purple ghouls fell from the ceiling above them, almost coming from out of nowhere. They swiped at them with near perfect position, aiming for one of the body's most obvious kill points, the head.

"Queen Anna, get behind me!" The Arendelle guards exclaimed at the same time, collecting their shields and sword from their belts and buckles and almost jumping into a fighting position, ready to protect their queen.

A ghoul then started to head straight for them. The ghost-like being's long, sharp claws lingered out into the air, almost expanding, itching to land on any type of human skin. The two guards whimpered and began to swipe at the being. It dodged their attacks and went to take care of them with one swipe, but before it could it was sent flying into a nearby wall.

The two Arendelle soldiers took a long, hard blink and looked up to find Anna holding an ice sword, presumably made from Elsa, in her small hands. She had smacked the ghoul over the head and was panting rapidly.

"D-Don't... mess with the redhead queen." She smirked with a puff, going to join Honeymaren in the corner who was fighting a much bigger one by herself. The guard's mouth's were left hung open. They then began to chase after the ghoul that was knocked down by Anna.LAD

"Nice to see you could join me." Honeymaren commented sarcastically while ducking and jerking her head to dodge the purple creature's constant attacks. She was getting a few jabs of her spear in, but it wasn't close enough to get a finishing hit.

Anna rolled her eyes, commenting, "I can distract it while you go in for a behind kill, or takedown, considering literal human soul's and anger are trapped inside of these things."

Honeymaren nodded understandingly. "I'll just knock them out and give em' a lotta' bruises instead of killing, just to be safe." The tan girl smirked as the creature turned its back to her, beginning to chase Anna's poor, small body around the small space of the downstairs area of the castle. It was mere inches away from her heart, one little swipe and it could-

"HEADS!" Elsa yelled as she sent a stray ice dagger for the purple ghoul's head that was chasing Anna, giving the redhead more distance between it and her. A cold sweat began to from by the crook of Elsa's neck as she began to be surrounded by three of the ghouls. These three were the last of them, not including the one being take care of by Honeymaren and Anna.

Mattias and the Northuldra people came to her aid immediately, taking two of the ghoul's presence off of her back for a few precious minutes. She then was faced with the biggest ghoul out of the group. It seemed two souls were formed into this being instead of the average one.

The creature's dark eyes stared into her lively ones. It almost formed a smirk-like expression, stretching out its arms to attack.

Elsa furrowed her brows, holding out her hands in a defensive stance. Her toned muscles flexed as she tensed her arms and legs, ready to pounce.

She waited, waited and waited. Time slowed down to a halt as she saw its claws stretch closer, closer....closer....closer. It was so close she could almost taste ash on the tip of her tongue. Then, she moved.

And she moved fast.

Elsa dashed to side, summoning a huge ball of magic from deep in the pit of her stomach. her stomach purred and groaned happily as she summoned the ice. With a flick of her wrists and stretching out of her palms, Elsa sent two ice daggers into the legs of the ghost-like ghouls, making it trapped against a nearby wall. She then created an ice ball and threw it strongly at its head, knocking it out cold.

Elsa panted tiredly and cracked her knuckles loudly. She was only just getting started.

\------

When they made their way to the bottom of the staircase, just near the ballroom, Kristoff turned around, grabbing the Arendelle guards. 

"All of you go ahead! We'll hold them off if they come back." His blonde, shaggy hair was filled with dirt. So much dirt to the point where you would think his hair was naturally turnig brown.

"But. What if something happens to you? How will you know if we are leaving-"

"Anna," Kristoff cut of his partner, "I will be fine. I can hear Mattias' screaming from a mile away and I can handle myself, I promise." Kristoff said with a soft smile of reassurance, placing his hand on Anna's small shoulders. The redhead girl had a stubborn expression on her face, but let it go anyways, giving her husband a large hug, before running off towards their destination.

"I heard that, you know!" Mattias' voice echoed through the halls from a few dozens metres in front of them. The small, lighthearted banter made them all internally smile. They couldn't necessarily laugh too much now though, as it really wasn't the time to be joking.

When they entered the ballroom it was dead silent. Forms of mild cobwebs and dust littered the corners of the roofing. It made Anna internally cringe, knowing how much work it would take to clean the place. Although, technically she could get Elsa to freeze it all.

"It smells awful in here." Honeymaren exclaimed, scrunching her nose.

"Agreed." Mattias mumbled bluntly.

That was when Elsa, out of the corner of her eye saw it. A large, deafening thrown that towered over them like giant trees of the darkest forests. It was the same throne from the church it seemed, how it had gotten there Elsa did no know, perhaps the Sixth Spirit could teleport or create things very easily.

"Someone's sitting on that throne!" Mattias suddenly hushed out, immidiately pulling out his long, iron sword. The Northuldra soon followed persuit, then Honeymaren, then Elsa and Anna. 

"3..." Honeymaren began, straightening her stance.

"2..." Mattias growled, twisting his sword and holding it close/

"1..." Anna whispered to herself, taking a long breath in to concentrate.

"NOW!"

They all ran in together on time, like performing art they all ran in an almost powering movement. That was when they realised who was at the thrown.

"Wait, that's-" Before Anna could get her words out, Elsa ripped the head bag and gag off of the mysterious person. They had been screaming and kicking around beforehand.

"You?!" Elsa shrieked, immediately growling loudly, frost forming around her feet. Honeymaren took note of her aggression towards the man.

"I know you all hate me, but please know.... I am a mere distraction, a pawn in a game, a pathetic one at that. Bribed with the promise of revenge against you all, betrayed by the very evil I strived to serve by." Hans coughed. His orange hair was covered in a thick mix of purple and grey ash.

"What do you mean by that? Liar!" Elsa roared, her hands gleaming with pure magic.

"Elsa, calm down, he means something." Honeymaren said, grabbing her girlfriends shoulders softly and turning to glare at Hans. He took it as a mere 'you need to shut up' stare and looked down at the ground sheepishly.

Elsa sighed and rubbed her eyes, turning to Anna. 

"Interrigate him all you want, but he is staying tied up. If he even steps a foot outside this area I won't hesitate to impale him."

Anna gulped and nodded understandingly. "So, Hans-"

That was when the door broke down, and three consecutive bodies came flying through the air and at their feet.

It was Kristoff and the two Arendelle guards.

The Arendelle guards immediately got up, but Kristoff did not.

"Kristoff!" Anna screamed, running to his side protectingly. He was breathing, but barely holding on. His wheezy breathing and cracked bones proved that point.

"You Majesty! The King has been greatly injured! We need to leave!"

"You won't be leaving that easily, my little pets." A voice boomed throughout the corridors of the palace, in everyones ears and everywhere else inbetween. Elsa knew this voice too well, it was common for her now.

"You..." Elsa snarled out loud. tensing her fists. The group all looked at her, almost surprised at the more casual reaction she had towards the voice.

"Ah, yes child, it is me." Large, booming footsteps could be heard slowly coming down the halls. They were made with precision and and dark intent.

"I-It can sense all your greatest fears and memories, especially if it has possessed you, that's how it got to me one hundred percent, be careful!" Hans stuttered behind them, wiggling in his restraints.

'What could the Sixth Spirit possibly take shape of?' Elsa thought to herself. She didn't have many fears, but the ones she did have mostly involved her sister.

A huge purple wolf then immerged from behind the now broken down door of the ballroom. They all figured it would've had to of been a big creature to tear the doors down- but this- this was larger than anyone had ever seen.

It was a Nattmara replica, only at least three times as big and strong. The purple fur of this wolf swayed in the none existent wind and its black teeth showed through its permenant growl.

"It's finally nice to meet the whole gang in person, don't you think... Snowflake?" Honeymaren gasped at the name the Sixth Spirit mocked at Elsa, immediately scowling at the being.

"Everyone, get behind me, I'll be handling this one." Elsa said, staring up at the huge, now purple monster that ruined her life and nightmares many months ago, a mere few weeks before they travlled to the Enchanted Forest.

The Sixth Spirit then howled loudly, and the sounds of more running footsteps could be heard from all around them.

'It's life, or death, Elsa. What will you choose?'

The depressing voices came back at the wrong time, Elsa deicded to herself, but she answered her own mind anyway.

"I choose to live, for my family, for my friends, for myself."


	19. Howls in the Wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year lovelies! I'm alive... I know how weird. I hope your holidays are going nicely considering the 'wonderful' virus going around at the moment.

"I will kill every last living being in this kingdom, as long as it means that you suffer."

Elsa merely glared at the enlarged wolf, not fazed by the immediate freezing of the people around her. They were fearful, but she wasn't going to let her doubts and fears take over her now, she had learnt her lessons time and time again and she was done running. The Fifth Spirit shuffled her feet so they were shoulder width apart, left leg further back than her right, lifting her hands up so they loosely were ahead of her in a fighting stance, ready to protect whoever she could.

"I'm done running. I am done not letting others help me when I'm on my journies. I am so DONE with my own misery. My mind may be twisted in its own right, but it does not compare to the insanity that is yours. I am here to take you down, so far down that you cannot stand no longer." The blonde girl spat, narrowing her eyes at the large creature. The Sixth Spirit merely scoffed in return- well as much as a wolf form could- and shook its head. It began slowly, almost teasingly, tiptoeing out of the large doorway. 

"Well then, make me kneel child." An almost distant voice boomed. Purple ghouls then began leaking through the walls like water droplets. They immediately stretched out to Anna, Honeymaren and the rest of the group. Elsa's eyes widened as she came up with an on spot plan. She splurted ice barriers around the room for cover and then yelled for Anna.

"Anna! Here, for Honeymaren and you! Make sure Kristoff is somewhere safe while all of this happens." With a flick of her fingers she coherced two long ice swords, well one of them ore of a spear for Maren, gently throwing them to her sister. She knew both Maren and Anna had weapons, but her ice was tremendously stronger.

When the blonde girl turned back around, she had to quickly jump out of the way, as the large wolf pounced at her with a vicious growl, its large paws inches from clawing into her sides and ripping her apart. She did not have a plan to defeat the Spirit, and did not know how to make it go away. Elsa absentmindedly decided that deep thinking would have to wait, and she was just going to fight until she could somehow trap or pin the giant creature down.

The Sixth Spirit ran into a nearby wall with a shaking crash. The large chandelier on the ceiling came crashing down with a large shatter. It then began to stumble back onto its feet, preparing for another attack on Elsa.

On the opposite side of the now wrecked hall, Anna was sawing off the last of Han's rope. "If you so dare even go an inch near me, my family or my sister, I will be shoving this sword up your-"

"Okay Princess-"

"Queen Anna to you."

Hans sighed, hiding his curiosity. "Okay Queen Anna. Trust me, I want this creature gone as much as you do. If it lives, it will continue to haunt both your family and mine. I think I have an idea how to defeat it, however. There was a time where the Spirit wrongfully possessed me, and instead of taking control of me and seeing my memories, I saw its memories. And turns out, your grandfather's father battled it long ago, in the same room we are, basically. Your great-grandfather had to blast it with troll magic and recite a certain phrase, and show no fear, as fear make the spell shaky it seemed. However I think Elsa's icy spirit magic can work in its place. I-It was all a blur...but... honestly this is all we have."

Anna raised an eyebrow, collecting herself and glancing at her injured husband that was hunched over a few metres from the throne in the corner of the room. Kristoff's presence realligned her thought process and allowed her to once again think clearly. She continued on.

"How do I know if this isn't one of your other tricks? You did it with me and my sister before, and with this stupid Spirit in the first place, so how do I know that you're telling the truth?"

Hans seemed to of predicted this type of response and immediately rushed out his words. "Because! Why... why would I lie about this? We- including me- are all going to be consumed by this thing and become one of its ghouls if we do not stop it! I may be stupid, but I am not that thick skulled." 

Anna shivered and took a shaky breath in and out. He was right. She was going to have to believe him if they were going to have to make it out of here.

"The words that I heard your great-grandfather recite, they-"

"LOOK OUT!" A purple creature reached for their heads, with Honeymaren growling and chasing it, her ice spear merely inches from piercing it. Hans hissed and grabbed Anna down with him. They crouched down on the ground, immediately turning their heads to spot more creatures heading their way. 

"Don't touch me, and just get behind me" Anna stated, pulling out the ice sword that Elsa graciously gave her. 

Hans complied, hiding the shaking of his body by moving his arms as if he were stretching them. He peaked over Anna's shoulder and his eyes widened. 

"You can't take on 3 of them. Not even if I helped you."

"I can when I have her." Anna stated with a sly grin, seeing Honeymaren coming back to the main fight. The rest of their party was occupied, but it always seemed that that Northuldran girl was always there to help, no matter where she was.

"Anna! Let's stand back to back! We got work to do!" The tan girl yelled out, her shorter legs striding out like a race horse to get to her position. She then noticed Hans and stared at him blankly. She had heard stories about the harm that man had done to the Arendelle sisters.

"You... go hide in the corner. You're clearly in no condition to fight." Maren growled. Nodding her head to the side in an inviting motion. Hans took the invitation and immediately took hiding near Kristoff, who was still knocked unconscious.

The two girls then paired up and took their stances.

A ghoul went to swipe at Honeymaren's face, and the girl immediately reacted. The brunette walked forward, taking a step, and blocked its claws using the tip of her spear, and then stood back and spun in a 360 degree angle, ending up in the same position that she started in, but this time her spear was repositioned. She sliced the ghoul in half, the purple creature letting out an ear-piercing noise that could only be described as agony. It then evaporated into the air as mere mist. She saw the lost souls escape the monsters and seep back into the Sixth Spirit. It was almost as if it was storing peoples souls to use.

Anna had two going at her, so she tagged team with Maren and aimed for the one on the left. With one large swing and a slide on the floor underneath it, the left creature was destroyed and seeping back into the ground, defeated. The redhead then ran towards Maren, who was a few long metres away from her. The tan girl grabbed Anna's wrists and spun her around in the air. Anna's boot slammed into the face of the other purple creature, sending it flying into a wall.

To finish the ghoul off, Honeymaren picked up a nearby shard of glass that was shaped perfectly like a spear tip, and threw it directly at the creature's head. It slumped down and bursted into its dead gas.

Anna sighed out of relief and glanced over to see that Mattias and his men were holding off their creatures adequately on the other side of the room, near the entrance door, and wouldn't need assistance unless more creatures doubled up on them. However, when she looked at Elsa, who was opposite them, she got a bit concerned.

Her sister was panting and sweating like a wild animal. The Spirit's normal pale, glowing skin was etched with warm sweat, mixing the whiteness with faint red blotches. She was dodging the Sixth Spirit's attacks with almost inhuman speed, retaliating with quick bursts of ice, some in lethal spike forms and some just in random waves. The two spirits were moving so quickly that it hurt Anna's eyes. It also seemed that Elsa wanted to corner the large wolf, but it was too quick, even for her. That thought made Anna frown immediately.

"We have to help my sister." Anna pleaded to Honeymaren, who too was sweaty and panting. The brunette took one glance at Elsa and her eyes widened.

"Agreed!"

Hans then walked up to them, seeming to want to say something before they made a move.

"Wait! You must know more about this Spirit and how to defeat it. It will take its preferred and final form once its power has been minimised down and depleted. You also must know the words to recite once it has been trapped! Plus, you must show no fear."

Honeymaren gave Anna a glance as if to say, 'what the hell?', but the redhead semi-ignored it and sighed. "Tell me now Hans. We don't have time to exaggerate and dilly dally. My sister is in danger."

Hans gulped loudly, stuttering out the words, "Dive..dive down deep into her sound, but not too far, or you'll be drowned. Get her to say that while blasting it with her magic."

Anna's eye widened. That was off of the lullaby that their mother used to sing to them. The redhead made a mental note to study her mother's journals later. She then turned her head quickly to the side and glanced at her sister. There Elsa was, pinned against the ground, the wolf snarling over her, its teeth beginning to seep out like a vampire about to take a bite out of a new victim. A thin line of drool travelled down its ragged chin and into its dark, purple and grey fur.

"ELSA!" Time does not slow or fasten in theory, but to Anna and Honeymaren, it seemed as if their heartbeats quickened, while their surroundings slowed. Honeymaren was already ahead of Anna, sprinting with all her might towards the blonde girl helplessly on the ground, but by then, they had been too late.

The Sixth Spirit used its free paw and reached up into the air, it looked Elsa in the eyes and did not see fear, it saw something else it was not familiar with, it was a distant glare, an almost challenging look, as if the blonde did not care what happened to her. She tried summoning ice, but it was no use. The wolf clawed down on her side, and in that moment, it was as if time froze.

Elsa rarely screamed, but when she did, it was for good reason. She remembered screaming when she thought Anna was frozen to death, she remembered screaming when she felt romantic heartbreak for the first time, she remembered screaming and sobbing into her pillow when she heard of her parent's death, she remembered screaming when she sent Anna and Olaf off when they found their parent's boat. But this time- the pain she felt was unbearing.

It was like getting injected with pure anger. Something changed inside of her. Its claws dug into her ribs and hips like an axe into a tree. Her dress tore easily as if it were paper. Her entire right side from upper hip to lower ribs were shown, her pale and pink skin exposed. Elsa bawled her lungs out because of the physical pain, tears stung and dared to fall out from her tired eyes. She clenched her fists and hissed out loudly, challenging to look the Sixth Spirit in the eyes one more time as her vision blurred and spun from blood loss.

It was smiling, even through its wolf form- it smiled like a crazy maniac with murderous intentions. It then picked her up in a tight grip in its teeth, making sure to seep its fangs into her already horrible wounds, before throwing Elsa against a nearby wall. That was when the blonde girl saw nothing, and it all went black for her. Anna's throat seemed to get stuck out of shock, as the redhead tried to scream, but nothing came out. She ran over to her sister immediately, afraid of the worst. Honeymaren tried to pursue as well, but got cut off by more dreaded ghouls. 

The evil Sixth Spirit began to turn its attention to Mattias' group, which to Honeymaren was concerning, as that old man may of had fight in him, but she knew he couldn't survive a blow even half as bad as Elsa just had. The tan girl had a lot on her mind and on her plate.

Anna reached Elsa and held the back of her neck, slowly straightening up her limp body and leaning it straight up against the ripped and scratched wall. The girl's blood was seeping everywhere, including onto Anna's clothes, but the young queen didn't care, this was her sister. She sought out a nearby curtain and ripped the cloth into small, wrappable pieces, before tending to Elsa's battered and bruised body. Once she was done she realised a vital issue.

"She's losing too much blood." Anna thought in a frantic panic. That was when she noticed something. Some of Elsa's blood was flashing, you could see it through the cloth.

It was almost entrancing. It changed within the blink of eye, a mere flash, from normal, to a whiter haze, to a darkened purple. Like a battle within the blonde girl. Elsa began to slip, and Anna knew this, her paler skin was becoming an almost grey colour.

"No! I am not losing you Elsa!" She pleaded, giving the girl a desperate hug. She sobbed into Elsa's neck, wrapping her arms hopelessly around her shoulders.

And then, there was movement.

"Elsa?" Anna untangled from the one sided hug, the blonde spirit still had her eyes closed, but her breathing began to quicken.

Then, the Fifth Spirit opened her eyes, and a fear of Anna's was once again released for what seemed the onehundreth time. Her eyes were a hazy purple, from her sclera to to her pupils to her iris, but freckles of blue remained. The Sixth Spirit was gaining control, but it had not yet won.

"Anna..." Elsa groaned, her face scrunching up in pain. She was shaking her head furiously, almost fighting off an immense headache. "Make it stop." Her voice echoed loudly as she clutched her head. Elsa's face was wiped with pure fear, and that was the moment Anna knew.

This is what the evil spirit wanted. It wanted Elsa to fear. It wanted the Fifth Spirit to give into fear like she did all those years ago. However this time, Anna was not going to let her.

"Anna!" A distant voice called out to her. Honeymaren sprinted over towards her, her face almost frozen and petrified.

"If you get too close she could freeze your heart again!" Hans called out behind the tan girl, his eyes showing a genuine curiosity and concern. 

"Does it look like we care? Go make yourself useful with this! Help Mattias!" Honeymaren threw her ice spear to him, making sure he ran towards the Sixth Spirit and not to them before continuing on.

"What is happening here?" The Northuldra girl asked, panting and almost hyperventilating from the immense pressure in the room. She looked down at the shaking and panicked Elsa and froze.

"What is that thing doing to her?" Honeymaren gasped. Elsa was looking directly ahead of her line of vision into mere space. She looked out of it, poisoned and unattached from reality.

"Its trying to take over her body again, but since the Sixth Spirit is also simultaneously fighting some of our party, its grip on Elsa is weakened and she is fighting it. I am not going to let that monster hurt my sister ever again. Please help me with this." Anna made direct eye contact with Honeymaren, and that was when both of them knew that their love for the blonde girl on the floor was like no other love.

Honeymaren kneeled down onto her knees beside Elsa, and took the spirit's left hand, while Anna took her right hand.

Elsa threw her hand against the wall and began to hiss out of pain, occasionally letting out loud groans and moans. They could tell she did not want to scream.

"Shh Elsa, we are right here, don't forget that. Focus on our voices Elsa." Anna cooed, placing her other hand on top of Elsa's hand, cupping it so her sister knew she was there.

Honeymaren followed suit and did the same actions. "It's okay Snowflake, we are all going to be fine, you are going to get through this. I am right here. Anna is here. Your family is here. The Northuldra are by you. Arendelle is by you." She held her girlfriend's hand.

"A-Anna? M-Maren?" Elsa stuttered out. She tried to squint, but it hurt. Inside of her brain there was an ongoing battle that no one knew of. She was covered in a thick smog of darkness and her brain kept telling her that no one was going to care or look for her, that was until Anna and Honeymaren became a burst of light in her darkness.

"Yes Elsa, we are right here, please come back to us I beg of you!" Anna pleaded, holding back a light sob. A single tear fell down her freckled face.

Inside of Elsa's mind she was running towards the sudden light, fighting off the weight of the darkness that pulled on her tail. Then, a loud echoing voice rang out again, giving her more hope. "Elsa! I am here. we are here. Think of me, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, your parents. We all love you, and we all need you if we are to defeat this spirit." It was Honeymaren.

Elsa began to run faster, she could feel the darkness becoming less and less weightful, and more of a distant ringing in the shadows.

Anna then began to sing something that put Elsa way over the edge, it was what pushed her to break free from the purple chains of her mind. She could still hear her mind screaming 'you are not worth it, do not try to fight it, you are worthless' but she did not listen to the Sixth Spirit's hate, not when she heard Anna's beautiful singing voice and Honeymaren's angelic background humms.

"Where the Northwind, meets the sea."

Elsa saw the brightful doorway, it was just in her grasp, if she just reached a little further..

"There's a river, full of memory."

And just like that, she was free of the Sixth Spirit's chains. Elsa gasped for air, it almost hurt to see in the sudden bright room. That was when it sunk in that she was on a literal battleground, surrounded by people. Her skin was glowing with light.

"Elsa?" Anna stuttered suddenly, seeing her sister's eyes had returned to its natural bright colour. "Oh, Elsa!" She hugged her sister tightly, throwing her arms around the girl's neck.

Elsa hissed in pain and shook her head out of amusement, "Hello Anna, thank you for being there. You are truly the best sister the world has ever received. " She croaked raspily.

Anna grinned into the blonde's neck and pulled out of the hug, awkwardly rubbing her neck. "Sorry for the tight hug, it probably hurt you."

Elsa did what only could be described as an attempt at a breathy laugh and shook her head. "It's fine Anna." She turned to look at Honeymaren, who was closer to her face than she expected. "I'm just glad to be back and alive."

Honeymaren stared into her girlfriend's eyes, they glowed and sparkled like an ancient goddess. It was the most ethereal sight she had ever seen. 

Honeymaren remembered being told stories of a spirit that was an essential bridge of the four elements, but nothing could have prepared her for what was in front of her. Elsa's pale skin shone like the moonlight and her baby blue eyes glowed like a lit candle. They glowed so bright they were almost... white.

"You look... alive." Honeymaren gushed.

"I feel alive." Elsa grinned goofily, turning her head to glance at the wolf that was still chasing down their warriors.

"I need to fix this." Elsa stated, attempting to get up and almost tripping over in the process. Anna opened her mouth out of shock.

"What? Look how injured you are!" She gasped.

"It's fine, I'll have help. I can feel them coming to me." Elsa said calmly, gripping her side with a hiss.

"Help from who?" Honeymaren asked curiously.

"From.... them." Elsa smirked, side eyeing her girlfriend. That was when the windows of the room all bursted open, and the wind flew through the room like a solid snake. Then, the earth began to shake and cracks in the floor began to appear. A distant cracking of fire startled everyone in the room. And finally, Elsa could sense and use the sudden moisture that filled into the air. Gale was there, Bruni was there, the earth was there and the Water Nokk was as near as it could be.

She felt powerful as the wind blew through her hair. She felt almost... calm, as the four spirits circled around the area, almost... at her command.

"Please stay safe, Snowflake." Honeymaren gushed out of awe, seeing that Elsa truly was the Fifth Spirit, the centre of it all. She was a goddess, a whole different queen in her own right, a literal 'Snow Queen'.

The blonde then walked over to the shorter tan girl and stated jokingly, "Don't worry, I'll be home by curfew." She caressed Maren's face and kissed her deeply, savouring every part of the moment. Honeymaren's lips were soft, but cracked from battle. But Elsa didn't mind, it was all that she needed to boost her. With a final wink in her girlfriend's direction, the Fifth Spirit took off, ready to destroy the Sixth Spirit with everything she had inside of her.

Anna stood and merely watched, sighing contently. "Even in the most dangerous times of our entire lives you two still make it romantic."

Honeymaren hit the queen's shoulder playfully and rolled her eyes. "Oh quiet you, we put up with your dramatics with Kristoff." That made the redhead grin, they then went to help Mattias and support Elsa.

Elsa breathed in and out deeply, letting oxygen flow through her veins. She was alive.

The Fifth Spirit slowly paced over to the Sixth Spirit, who was crashing and banging the life out of Mattias and his men, too blinded by passionate rage to notice her sudden and quick return.

A Northuldra man that looked around his late thirties was stanced in front of the small party, his spear in front of him tightly. He had shaggy black hair, and a forming stubble that seemed to have arose in the recent dates. The man was panting like a wild animal on the hunt, but the look in his eyes told a determined story. He was ready to fight to his death to protect those around him.

The Sixth Spirit looked down at him with an amused glint in its eyes. It snickered and shook their head. "So pitiful. You humans are so passionate, even when in the face of death. How cliche."

It raised its claws, and angrily swiped down on the man. His passionate eyes changed to fear in a blink of an eye as he saw the beast come down on him. But then- a flash of light appeared before him, in front of him.

A thick ice wall came between the evil spirit's claws and the man's face. The ice glowed with an unfamiliar feeling. The magic looked almost alive, almost apart of Elsa's soul.

"I wouldn't dare lay another finger- or paw I suppose- on any of my friends again if I were you. You've already destroyed my childhood home and left the ball room to nothing but scratches and burns." Elsa growled, ice mist leaking up into the air from her palms. She was a whole different type of mad, she was furious and her eyes shone with an ardent fight.

The Sixth Spirit chuckled in response, turning its wolf head down to face her eye to eye. "Oh child, why I am not surprised you are here. Although- with your injuries- its impressive that you can even stand." Almost on cue with its sentence, Elsa gripped her side in pain, wavering for a few seconds to regain her composure.

Elsa glanced at Mattias to see that him and a few of his more distant men we sneaking behind the wolf. Honeymaren and Anna had seemed to of made a type of rope out of materials from the room, and were waiting for some others to come around to them. Elsa just needed to distract eh Sixth Spirit.

"W-Well, it seems you have underestimated me once again, spirit." Elsa laughed raspily, furrowing her brows to help concentrate her pain elsewhere. 

"I can tell you are on your last legs child. I suggest giving into me, or you can watch your entire kingdom and tribe be burned to mere ashes as I torture and kill you slowly. Once you are out of the way, I will be the spirit that can access Ahtohallan." The wolf flicked its tail in a plethora of directions. it twitched its nose and snarled.

"You have not lived as long as I have, child. I have lived longer than any spirit on this planet, I am the creation of destruction itself, and just how do you... a mere Snow Queen... plan to beat that?" Elsa stood there in silence for a moment, breathing in to regain her mature thoughts.

"Call me Snow Queen again and I will cut your head off. Only my friends and family can call me that." Elsa sneered, shaking her head. She glanced behind the Sixth Spirit's hind legs to see their trap was almost complete. Just a few more seconds.

"Also," Elsa began, straightening her posture to stand taller, looking directly into the Sixth Spirit's eyes, "I hope you know I am the spirit of life. I care for all the spirits. I strive to bring balance, not destruction. I am born to destroy you, and I will not hesitate."

A haunting silence came over the room as the huge wolf above her huffed. "Well then, if that is how you perseve yourself, so be it."

The Sixth Spirit spun around and sent Anna, Honeymaren and most of the group flying across the room. Elsa's eyes widened and she held back the urge to scream and cry out in concern. She knew they would be okay in the end, she just needed to prove herself.

"Did you seriously think a feeble trap like that would stop me? You would be wrong child." The evil spirit cackled, its booming and deep laughter sending a chill down the spines of Elsa.

The blonde girl shook her head and got in her fighting stance. She wasn't going to give up now and she wasn't going to let down anyone ever again. She was done running and done with all of these problems in her life arising. 

Without even giving the Sixth Spirit more time to yap their words away, Elsa aimed for its chest while it was distracted in its own ego. From the palms of both her hands, she sent a direct ice blast into the centre of the wolf, causing it to fly back a few metres in shock. She then switched her stance and ran up closer to the evil spirit, concentrating her magic lower in her body. Performing a single reverse roundhouse kick, ice glowed from her ankles down to her feet. Elsa kicked the wolf straight in the chin, causing it to yelp and howl in sudden pain.

"Why you BRAT!" It roared, immediately leaping from its position and aiming for Elsa's neck with its large jaws. The blonde kickly dodged its attacked and side stepped to the side with her immense speed. She felt its fur brush past her right arm as the world around her slowed.

"GALE!" Elsa called out, gulping and resuming her stance after a small fumble. She desperately was trying to ignore the crying and constant ache from her wounds. The cloth that Anna had used to patch her up were becoming loose, so the blonde decided to rip some of it off as it was practically useless at that point in time. 

A sudden gust of wind returned into the building. A swirl of beautiful golden leaves stood beside her, almost awaiting a command. 

"I want you and the Earth Spirit to trap this evil spirit in one place where it cannot attack. Trip it over and get it stuck, tie it up if you have to." Elsa asked Gale. Gale chirmed a high pitched noise, it seemed that the spirit happily agreed to the Fifth Spirit's suggestion.

Elsa smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck, before being pulled back into reality by the sound of a devilish growl. "SPIRITS! I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"

The Sixth Spirit's wolf form looked tired and more worn out, but it still stood angrily and tall. It ran towards Elsa once again, but instead slid on the floor and swished its tail in Elsa's direction, hoping to trip her over.

The blonde girl dodged it in a split of a second and jumped over it, but was instead met with the side of the Sixth Spirit's hand banging her in the head. 

Her brain thumped and her heart was almost piercing from the pressure and injuries, but Elsa ignored it all. She could be having a heart attack on the battlefield and not care until the fight was over.

That was when the spirits all picked up and helped her. Gale did as instructed and sent intense, targeted winds towards the wolf's sides and hind legs, hoping to trip it over. The earth sent a sudden boom throughout the whole room and cause the floor under the Sixth Spirit to shake and almost crumble.

"W-What is the MEANING of this?" The evil spirit growled, attempting to take a step forward and return to the intense battle, but instead was met with smoke. 

Bruni jumped from Elsa's shoulders (making her surprised but also grin) to the floor alongside the Sixth Spirit. He created an almost small fire wall so the evil spirit could not escape without having to jump, and since the winds were too strong, the spirit couldn't jump anywhere.

"This? It is called balance, teamwork... family." Elsa commented plainly as if it were the most simple sentence she had ever constructed and said.

"I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!" The Sixth Spirit roared, thrashing its large wolf head around. Elsa could tell she had limited time, the spirit's were struggling to hold it together.

"Elsa!" A distance voice called from behind her. The blonde turned around to see Anna hobbling over to her. The redhead was clinging onto the side of the infamous Water Nokk, it seemed she had injured an ankle, or her entire leg, Elsa couldn't pinpoint it.

"Blast it with your ice while reciting the song Mother used to sing to us when we were young. 'Dive down deep into her sound, but not too far, or you'll be drowned', trust me." The young queen coughed. Her face was covered in dirt but the freckled girl still looked as determined and as beautiful as ever.

Elsa gave her sister a grateful nod and her signature small one sided smile, before stomping off to the Spirit.

"Today is the day we rid of you and banish you to the lowest depths of the Earth. Evil spirit." Elsa spat, cracking her knuckles. She put her left leg behind her right and pushed her arms out. A large beam of light erupted from her hands as her ice began to merge into a mere light from the intensity. 

The Sixth Spirit howled in pain as its wolf form already began to deduct from the intensity of Elsa's magic. 

"Dive down deep into her sound.." Elsa yelled over the sound of her magic. Her eyes began to ligthen as her feet unconsciously began lifting from the ground.

The Sixth Spirit knew it was over, but it still had the idea of wanting to kill that dreaded girl.

"But not too far or YOU'LL BE DROWNED!" The Sixth Spirit began shrinking immensely, but before it did, it sent a huge blast of energy into the direction of Elsa, who was now floating in the air like some type of god. Anna, Honeymaren and everyone merely looked on with pure awe.

The Sixth Spirit then shrunk into a mere puppy, and sunk into the ground with a sad but satisfied whine. Purple smoke emitted from where it once stood, and the souls contained inside of it floated out into the world, clearly heading for their original positions. The spirits stopped their attacks and backed off from their positions, clearly exhausted.

"Elsa!" Anna cried, running away from her support from the Water Nokk and falling onto the ground next to her sister, who had been hit with a large blast in the chest and was now lying down on her back on the floor. 

The queen's legs and body ached and cried for her to stop moving her body, but she didn't care.

"Elsa, please wake up. You did so well." Anna's voice cracked as tears strung down her face delicately. A few silent seconds went by as Elsa's lifeless body laid there. 

That was until a large cough interrupted the silence.

"Am I dead?" Elsa groaned, squinting her eyes.

"Oh my gosh you idiot don't ever worry me like that ever again!" Anna sobbed throwing her arms around her sisters' neck.

Elsa began realising her surroundings. She remembered she was floating in the air originally, banishing the evil spirit as a new power flowed through her, but then she passed out and woke up and was now in her sister's arms.

"I can't promise anything. But I can promise that I'll always love you and be by your side whenever you need." Elsa mumbled into Anna's shoulders, wrapping her arms around the younger girl's waist. She placed a delicate kiss on the girl's shoulder as they swayed back and forth slowly on the floor. 

"I love you too, I always will. You're such an amazing sister." Anna cooed, gripping onto the blonde even tighter.

"She's also really hot and badass!" A voice echoed from the corner of the room. Anna immediately let go of their embrace and her neck snapped to see who made that comment, only to see Honeymaren sheepishly standing there out of embarrassment.

"What? It's true!" The Northuldra girl rubbed the back of her neck with a chuckle.

Elsa shook her head out of amusement. "Enough of the jokes, come down here Honey and hug me, I'm too tired to move. Literally, my legs won't move."

"Alright Snowflake, alright. Anything for you."

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanted to find me on Wattpad to read some of my other works, my username is @BechloeSendrick05. Whenever I next update my books on Wattpad, I'll convert them here for you guys :)


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